Luís Neves Expels 44 Security-Force Members in Less Than Three Months — 30 GNR and 14 PSP Walk Out the Door as the MAI's Zero-Tolerance Line Cuts Through the First Quarter

Internal Administration Minister Luís Neves has signed 44 disciplinary orders proposing the expulsion or compulsory removal of police and military personnel since taking office on 23 February — 30 in the GNR and 14 in the PSP — making it the most concentrated wave of disciplinary discharges from the two security forces in the period since records were standardised in 2018. The full quarterly tally was confirmed by the MAI on Thursday in response to a Notícias ao Minuto parliamentary-question request and reported across Público, Observador and RTP on Friday.

The breakdown by force

Of the 30 GNR members affected, 16 were placed under preventive suspension, 12 received expulsion (demissão) orders and two received service discharges (passagem à reserva). Of the 14 PSP officers, nine were dismissed, four were retired compulsorily and one was suspended pending the conclusion of the disciplinary procedure. The MAI emphasises the orders are "final dispatches signed by the Minister" and not preliminary administrative acts — meaning each carries a definitive separation from the force unless overturned on appeal at the administrative courts.

The grounds for separation

The categories cited in the disciplinary instruction files cover embezzlement, abuse of power, domestic violence, fraud and offences against physical integrity. The Ministry has not, citing privacy and ongoing criminal procedures, broken down the file-by-file distribution. But the categories track the criminal-investigation streams that have run through DIAP-Lisboa and DIAP-Porto over the past nine months: the Operação Safra Justa case in Beja that put 11 GNR and one PSP officer in custody, the Rato Torture inquiry that has now reached 24 PSP detainees, the Vila Nova de Gaia corruption ring that ended with Patrocínio Azevedo's eight-year-six-month conviction this week, and the standalone domestic-violence cases that have moved through the Polícia Judiciária Militar pipeline.

The four-year context

Público's parallel reporting on the four-year horizon places Friday's number in proportion. Between 2022 and the end of 2025, the PSP recorded 82 separations from active service through disciplinary procedure; the GNR recorded 47, for a combined total of 129 over four years — or roughly 32 per year on average. The 44 separations Luís Neves has signed in his first 75 days run at almost six times that average pace, and represent more than a third of the entire four-year prior tally inside the first 11 weeks of his mandate.

The minister's position

Luís Neves, the former director of the Polícia Judiciária appointed to the MAI portfolio in February, has been explicit about the disciplinary line since his first parliamentary appearance. "I will be inflexible," the minister told the Comissão de Assuntos Constitucionais on 4 March. The pace of signing has held since: nine PSP and 11 GNR expulsions had been registered by 24 April; the additional 24 separations have all moved through the Ministry's disciplinary machinery in the 16 days since.

The unions' response

The PSP union ASPP and the GNR's APG have publicly accepted the disciplinary thrust but pushed back on the framing. Both organisations argue that disciplinary expulsions should be matched by a parallel investment in mental-health support, deployment-rotation rules and the body-worn-camera rollout. ASPP has called for video surveillance inside police stations following the Rato precinct case. The MAI is preparing a formal response to the union proposals, with a working-group hearing scheduled for the week of 19 May.

What sits in the queue

The Operação Safra Justa file in Beja continues to expand: MAI Tuesday confirmed 10 additional GNR officers and one PSP agent had been placed under preventive suspension as the second wave of detentions worked through the courts. The Rato Torture investigation is in the final interrogation round — DIAP-Lisboa concluded the questioning of 14 of the 24 detained officers on Thursday. Both files are likely to feed additional expulsion orders into the second quarter as criminal-court rulings land. The MAI has not committed to a public quarterly disclosure cadence, but the Government has indicated the figure will be updated when the next set of dispatches is signed.

Sources: MAI parliamentary response (8 May 2026); Público; Observador; RTP; Notícias ao Minuto.