Law enforcement in the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

is, mainly, the responsibility of the national police forces and services of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. In the Azores operate:

1. Public Security Police (PSP) Regional Command of the Azores - responsible for urban and rural preventive police;
2. Republican National Guard
   Portuguese Republican National Guard
   The term Republican National Guard may refer to:*Italian National Republican Guard*Portuguese National Republican Guard...
   
    (GNR) Territorial Command of the Azores - responsible for customs, border and maritime patrol;
3. Polícia Judiciária
   Polícia Judiciária
   The Polícia Judiciária is the main police branch of criminal investigation in Portugal, dedicated to fighting criminality, organized crime, terrorism, drugs, corruption and financial crimes...
   
   (PJ) Ponta Delgada Criminal Investigation Department - responsible for the criminal investigation;
4. Foreign and Borders Service (SEF) Regional Direction of the Azores - responsible for immigration control.

There are minor police services dependent of the Regional Government of the Azores like the forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

 police and the sanitary and economical police.

At the end of 2009, Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada is a city and municipality on the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. It includes 44,403 residents in the urban area, and approximately 20,113 inhabitants in the three central parishes that comprise the historical city: São Pedro,...

 became the first city of the autonomous regions of Portugal

Autonomous regions of Portugal

The two Autonomous Regions of Portugal are the Azores and Madeira...

 to create its own municipal police

Municipal police

.Municipal police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government, including the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive pay from the city budget, and usually have fewer rights than the "state paid" police...

force.

The several police forces that operate in the polices a population of 240,000 people over an area of 2,333 km².