Cyprus’ new police chief Themistos Arnaoutis was sworn in on Monday afternoon, along with new deputy chief Panikos Stavrou, after President Nikos Christodoulides fired its leadership over the escape of convict Doros Theofanous, serving a life sentence for murder.

Speaking at the ceremony, Christodoulides said their mission would not be easy, adding that the people were rightfully demanding that their sense of safety be elevated.

“I am asking you to work with the fewest possible statements and the most action, to enhance the feeling of safety in society.”

Christodoulides said times had changed and called on the new leadership to give special attention to addressing drugs, crime, hooliganism and corruption.

He also referred to terrorism, taking into consideration the challenges in the region, as well as migration, for which he said a lot of progress had been made over the past 19 months.

“The justice minister, the cabinet as a whole and I are by your side to respond to everything the society expects from us,” Christodoulides said.

The new chief of police said no significant restructuring had taken place in the police force over the past 64 years and was a pressing need.

The new deputy chief assured they would do everything in their power to raise morale within the force and increase the sense of safety among the puplic.

The ceremony was attended by attorney-general George Savvides, Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis and government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis.

Earlier on Monday, Letymbiotis said the government expected the police force to come up with a “roadmap” for improvements after its two chief officers were fired.

The police chief and his deputy, Stylianos Papatheodorou and Demetris Demetriou respectively, were dismissed by Christodoulides as he returned to the island on Sunday evening following the escape of convicted double-murderer Theofanous from under the noses of seven officers last week. The escapee, aka ‘the hairdresser’, has since been caught. The acting director of the central prisons Charalambos Philippides was also sacked.

The goal is to thoroughly modernise and streamline the police force in a manner which can be “felt by every member of the public”, Letymbiotis told state broadcaster CyBC.

Meanwhile, Christodoulides announced that in cooperation with the justice minister he would call a meeting of the Public Service Commission to appoint Constantinos Constantinides to the position of acting director of prisons.

According to Letymbiotis, the president based his choices on objective evaluation of each person’s capacity for their appointed role, not based on any personal relationships.

Drawn from the force’s ranks, Arnaoutis served as head of the investigative team for the Helios airplane crash tragedy in 2005.

He participated in investigations into what led to the 2013 financial crisis, and was involved in solving the quadruple Ayia Napa gangland murders case, which cemented his image as an expert in solving difficult high-profile crimes.

He is also a speaker of English, German and Russian.

Stavrou, meanwhile, served as director of the drugs squad (Ykan), and was head of the Police Academy until March 2023, when he took on duties as commander of the Presidential Guard.

New acting director of prisons Constantinides is also drawn from police ranks.

He is the third appointee to the role in the space of less than two years taking over from Charalambos Philippides, also a former police officer. Prior to Phillipides, Anna Aristotelous had tended her resignation from the post citing safety concerns.

Public concern over the effectiveness of both the police and prison services has reached a pitch after a series of dramatic perceived failures, beginning with the handling of racist riots in Chlorakas and Limassol last year. Already then questions were asked over police chief Papatheodorou’s suitability for the post.

This was followed by two high profile underworld murders, one of which took place in broad daylight in Limassol and the other, carried out by a sniper in a densely inhabited suburb of Nicosia.

Other incidents, including football violence, have followed at regular intervals, with public outcry at the impunity with which the underworld and other criminal and delinquent elements seemed able to operate.