University police force training starts Monday

The 400 members of Greece’s new university police are scheduled to commence their four-month training in the northeastern city of Komotini Monday.

The new recruits of the so-called University Institutions Protection Team (OPPI) will attend a basic training program that includes courses in criminal law procedure, constitutional law and criminology, as they will be tasked with investigations when required.

For the same reason they will be trained in crime scene investigation and evidence preservation.

They will also be trained in self-defense and the use of weapons, although OPPI will be unarmed. The curriculum includes special lectures on LGBTQI rights, academic freedom and handling issues of domestic violence, for the purpose of bringing the young guards “closer to university culture,” according to the study guide seen by Kathimerini.

Of the 400 new guards, 303 are men and 97 women, while most of them have university and technical school degrees.