June 22, 2010

New police effort to quell rising crime wave in Athens' historic central area

From kathimerini:

"The Greek Police (ELAS) yesterday heralded the creation of a new unit of 300 officers who are to be permanently stationed in the capital’s historic center with the aim of curbing burgeoning crime there.

The initiative, launched yesterday, involves 300 officers deployed in a one-kilometer radius around Omonia Square. The officers’ priority is to curb drug dealing and prostitution, which are rife in the area, and to crack down on rings of robbers and muggers that have been targeting stores and pedestrians in the area with increasing frequency over the past few months.

The new force, created following a redistribution of personnel by Attica’s police headquarters, is to be exclusively responsible for policing the city’s historic center.

...Thousands of migrants are currently living in derelict and run-down buildings in the center with hundreds more detained in police detention centers."

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