In a pioneering action in the country, the Portuguese private security company COPS – Companhia Operacional de Segurança, after exposure and request made to the General Direction for the Administration of Justice (DGAJ), managed to recognize the vigilant figure as a priority in the services it provides in courts, thus guaranteeing the vaccination of all elements present in these establishments in the Portuguese mainland and Islands. Priority vaccination lists have already been sent and the process will soon begin.
During the pandemic situation caused by the SARS CoV-2 outbreak, COPS defined as urgent the public recognition of the figure of security guards, including their rights and duties, which were essential in the rapid change of paradigms of working, access to facilities, and security of employees of the companies where they work.
To keep the usual functioning of courts in Portugal, COPS, which has all the surveillance contracts in the courts of the country, will vaccinate all 162 elements belonging to teams pointed out injustice units at a national level, reinforcing the position of recognition and consideration of the company by employees.
“Once again, and similarly to what we have done with our guards in hospitals, we want to guarantee the safety of the teams in courts. We will do everything to ensure that they are always included in the vaccination lists and that the role of the vigilant in all public and private institutions is dignified”, stated Pedro Toste, general director of COPS.
COPS is a 100% Portuguese SME whose main activity is to provide security services to others. Operating for more than 10 years in the sector and around 1.500 employees, it has security guards at the service of public and private institutions that play crucial roles in protection and surveillance, such as all courts in the country, hospitals, schools and universities, city halls, theatres, entertainment spaces, hotels and resorts, condominiums, and others of high security such as the PGR (Procuradoria Geral da República), the DCIAP (Departamento Central de Investigação e Ação Penal) or the Administration of the Sines’s harbor, among others.
COPS provides private security services in all Portuguese courts, making up, at the moment, a total of 143 units of justice in the Portuguese mainland and Islands.