‘Police operational capacity to increase to avoid incidents like Chlorakas and Limassol’

Measures to further strengthen the operational capacity of the police were announced on Tuesday evening by the government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, after the meeting held by President Nikos Christodoulides with Justice Minister Anna Procopiou and Police Chief Stelios Papatheodorou.

Speaking after the meeting, Letymbiotis said that the first topic discussed was security issues in relation to the situation in Israel and the measures taken by the police.

The second, Letymbiotis continued, is migration and because it is a priority of the government, it was decided to strengthen the immigration office in the first two weeks of November, to further increase returns and deportations.

Thirdly, he said, it was decided to form two additional permanent anti-harassment platoons in the rapid response unit (MMAD) from November 6.

He added that the autonomy of the Police Information Management and Utilisation Service will be completed by the end of October, and fifthly, the reorganisation of the 24 Police departments was decided within the year, which will lead to a strengthening of its operational capability and intervention.

He noted that the reorganisation will also include the utilisation of police officers on the front line, who currently perform clerical duties.

Asked if today’s meeting closes any discussion of possible responsibilities for anyone regarding the incidents in Chlorakas and Limassol, Letymbiotis said that what the government is focusing on from the first moment is the further strengthening of efficiency and operational capacity of the police.

He added that very specific measures and actions that will be taken in the next period have been discussed in order to ensure that the operational plans will be more complete, but also that the operational capability of the police is in a position to deal with these unacceptable incidents that happened in Chlorakas as well as in Limassol.