Cutbacks, bank restrictions keep police motorcycles in garages

Nearly half of the motorcycles allocated to members of the Greek Police’s rapid-reaction DIAS unit are currently out of use as they are in need of repair and the force lacks the cash to fix them, Kathimerini understands.

An initiative by private donors to offer approximately 40,000 euros to cover some of the repair costs was scuppered following the imposition of capital controls on bank withdrawals at the end of last month, sources revealed. The sum would have been enough to get around 50 of the motorcycles back on the road. Out of the 1,250-strong fleet, around 700 bikes are in garages.

DIAS officers have been tasked with guarding hundreds of banks in Attica where pensioners and unemployed citizens have been lining up over the past two weeks to collect their monthly payments.

Police sources indicated that there are similar problems with other units, noting that dozens of patrol cars, for instance, are also in need of repair.