The relevant public order minister on Monday revealed that armed and specially trained police officers will soon be based inside certain Roma (gypsy) settlements and camps around the country.
Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis, who holds the citizen protection portfolio, as the ministry is called, said the initiative is part of law enforcement efforts to curb criminal activity by gangs based in those settlements. The specific officers will be affiliated with the newly created serious crimes unit, dubbed by the media as the “Greek FBI”. “In a month and a half from now, the implementation will begin. They will be present every day, patrolling the districts and neighborhoods, so that everyone understands that there is no possibility of avoiding the law anywhere. The utterly incomprehensible tolerance that has existed for decades must come to an end,” the minister said during an appearance on a radio news program.
Michalis Chrisochoidis
Chrisochoidis, whose holds the specific portfolio for the third time and in three different governments, said the greater Athens-Piraeus area faces the worst problem in terms of criminality, although he claimed the crime rate is falling.
Additionally, he differentiated criminality into two general types, namely, organized crime and so-called “petty crime” that plagues neighborhoods and areas with Roma districts. He said the former has been significantly “dented” by the “Greek FBI” with some 1,400 arrests – of which more than 500 suspects remain jailed – over the past six months.
