"The proposal that the PJ has is that in a couple of years we may reach 1,800 officers and we have very positive expectations that this plan will be included in the next State Budget," the national director of the Judiciary Police, Luís Neves, told reporters.

According to Luís Neves, they currently have around 1,250 officers, more than the 968 that existed when the current directorate of the PJ took office, but Luís Neves says currently they are on a path "of recovery", but "not yet of growth".

"There has to be this phase of growth and we have a commitment with the Government to have a plan for the first time in the allocation of human resources and that is what I hope will be approved. At this moment we are satisfied because we feel that there is a 'volte face' in relation to what the institution wants", he said.

Luís Neves' expectation is that "the voting phase" of the next State Budget, is when the PJ will know what "the future holds". "It is impossible to manage an institution without having a map of the people who are about to enter and leave," he said.

Alongside the recovery is the hiring of inspectors and experts, which the PJ has chosen to direct towards the unit’s fighting corruption and cybercrime. Luís Neves also defended a growth in the institution's budget, as since 2005 it has been growing below inflation.

"It is a moment of optimism, I hope that there are no setbacks and above all that there is no one in the public administration who stands in the way, which is a legitimate path of growth and of giving new dignity to the institution and to the people.