Rethink about police at universities
New Citizen Protection Minister Notis Mitarakis on Wednesday announced a radical rethinking of the role and structural organization of the special university police force set up by the government in its previous term.
“[The force] will not enter universities to play the part of a doorman. The role of the police is to assist and it will enter universities when needed,” he said, adding that “the universities themselves must have a more active role in their protection.”
The 1,060 people, he said, who had formed the university police, will be integrated into the special guards.
“From September 1, we want the presence of police officers and traffic police on the streets to be more visible,” he said, without ruling out the possibility of an increase in foot patrols.
Main opposition SYRIZA said the government’s attempt to set up a special police force has been a “fiasco” that cost 30 million euros. “At the same time the National Ambulance Service faces severe shortages and people lose their lives without any help reaching them on a daily basis,” it said.
In response, the Citizen Protection Ministry said later on Wednesday that “contrary to what SYRIZA preaches, the Hellenic Police will obviously fully safeguard the security of university institutions, as it already does. No form of delinquency will be tolerated.”
“Given that the situation at Greek universities has improved, the way in which the Hellenic Police contributes to the security of universities is constantly being reviewed, always in cooperation with the university authorities, formulating a specific plan per institution, which will cover the overall security needs of the institutions at all levels,” it said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has reportedly blocked a decision by Mitarakis to create a new mounted police force.
“[The proposal] to create a mounted unit of the Hellenic Police was not accepted by the prime minister,” governmental sources told Kathimerini.
