Luís Neves spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the 113th anniversary ceremony of the National Republican Guard (GNR) in Lisbon, where he endorsed the Government's intention to evaluate the SEF extinction process and praised the "unique" way in which former inspectors of that security service are being integrated into the PJ.

"When everyone thought that this was where the problems came from, this type of issue is not even mentioned. When a reform of this magnitude is carried out, which has to do with people, services and the architecture of the internal security system (where we have about 80 people working), it is naturally important to make evaluations regarding what is happening: keep what is going well and correct what may eventually be deviations," he said.

Regarding what is going less well, the PJ director recalled the pending requests for immigrant documents inherited by AIMA with the extinction of SEF and determined that the new institution is still going through a "period of adaptation and maturation".

"When SEF was extinguished on October 29, there were hundreds of thousands of immigrants who legitimately seek to have access to documents so that they can maintain their stay in national territory and in the Schengen area in an absolutely regular manner. This conveys another peace of mind in the search for employment, in the social issue of their integration, and this documentation is late in arriving," he stressed.

With the reorganization of the internal security system following the extinction of SEF, Luís Neves regretted that the PJ does not yet have direct access to the databases, considering that these "are fundamental for internal security and criminal investigation" and expressing "maximum urgency" in their availability.

"We have access to some databases indirectly. Our wish, what the legislator determined - in the organization of criminal investigation in human trafficking, in aiding illegal immigration, in organized crime -, the logical thing is to have direct access to these information bases in the shortest possible time, because this is an incentive for investigation," he defended.

Luís Neves even expressed his optimism that access to the databases will lead to the presentation of "other results in this type of crime", with a higher performance than the period in which there were shared competences between the PJ and the SEF.

"In fact, we never had access to the databases. And now we really want to have this access and it is absolutely natural that this should happen. The databases are crucial for us to be able to do our job," he added.

Asked about the changes that have recently occurred in top positions in the Public Administration and whether he was available for a new term at the head of the PJ, Luís Neves, who has been running the institution for about six years, was naturally available, although he avoided comments.

"I am a police officer, I have to do my job and I am very happy with the activity I perform, but that is not what we are going to talk about here. These issues are resolved in other places, not publicly," he concluded.

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