Parents patrolling Kifissia neighborhoods
Increased violence and delinquency among minors has become disturbing and mounting concern
In response to the increasing rate of juvenile delinquency in and around the northern Athens suburb of Kifissia, parents and concerned citizens have set up the “Kifissia Watch” group to help with police work every Friday and Saturday.
“I would like to observe that the volume of gatherings has multiplied and as a result more people are required to participate. I believe it is worth spending two hours of our free time,” the initiator of the initiative and father of two children, Kyros Asfis, wrote to the group after a recent incident-packed evening.
“The likes are nice, but it’s not enough! Maybe if instead of 95 likes you put 95 people on the street, the situation would be different?” wrote another member of the group.
The group has over 2,000 members, of whom 100 are the most active, but at most 15 people go out on the street at the same time.
It all began last spring, following a rash of violent incidents in one neighborhood.
Two adolescents mugged an elderly woman, a 17-year-old threatened a 14-year-old with a knife to steal his phone, and two minors aged 15 and 14 threatened two children aged 12 and 14 with a pocket knife and an iron fist.
“The last incident with the knife threat was the trigger to do something more drastic,” Asfis told Kathimerini.
He noted that, since the pandemic, Kifissia, and in particular the shopping center where the bowling alley is located, has become a meeting point for groups of minors from various parts of Athens who arrange appointments through TikTok or other social media.
The logic behind the group’s creation is to help the police work, with surveillance patrols. “If we notice something we can inform the authorities,” he said.
The first patrol was on June 1, and they have since been held every Friday and Saturday evening, apart from the summer holidays.
The instructions are clear to all members, whether they participate in the outings or not, that under no circumstances are they to engage.
They should remain calm and try to record the incident on their mobile phone. In any incident, the police should be informed.
Moreover, they should be discreet, with the only goal being to make the suburb look like it is being protected.
