Portuguese police credit Euro 2004 for sharp drop in bank he

LISBON (AFP) - The three-week Euro 2004 football finals brought extra tourists to Portugal, boosted the nation's image abroad and is now being credited by police for a sharp drop in bank robberies this year.

There were 48 armed bank heists during the first seven months of the year, a 50 percent drop from the same time last year when a record amount of banks were robbed in Portugal.

The fall was attributed Thursday by Vitor Marques, a senior policeman with Portugal's serious crimes unit, to the tight security measures which were put in place in the country for the football finals which ended on July 4.

"Hosting Euro 2004 allowed criminals to realize there was more policing and that citizens were more alert," he told daily newspaper Correio da Manha adding the football finals led people to give police more support in their work.

Portugal hired new officers and spent 16.5 million euros (20 million dollars) on new police equipment, including the country's first water cannon vehicles, to prepare for the event.

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