Greece: police & security agencies
01 January 1991
Greece: police & security agencies
bacdoc July=1995
The information in this country file was first published in the
handbook "Statewatching the new Europe" (November 1993). It was
compiled by Peter Klerks and extracted from a longer report which
is available from: The Domestic Security Research Foundation, PO
Box 11178, 1001 GD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Greece
131,940 km², 10,042,956 inhabitants
Long-form name: Hellenic Republic
Type: presidential parliamentary government.
Capital: Athens
Administrative divisions: 51 departments (nomoi,
singular--nomos).
Constitution: 11 June 1975
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Greek Chamber of Deputies (Vouli
ton Ellinon)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
I. POLICE STRUCTURES & forces
Total no. of police officers (1989 estimate): 40,000. Women in
the police: according to the 1992 survey of the European Network
of Policewomen, women have been working in the Greek police for
more than 25 years and account for 6% of the total posts per
rank. No. of police officers per 100,000 inhabitants: 400 (EC av.
338).
The national police has been a unified force since 1985, when its
predecessors, the City Police and the Gendarmerie, were merged.
The Ministry of Public Order is responsible for the police and
is its highest coordinating department.
The organisation of the police is based on Greece's 51
administrative prefectures, which constitute a police district,
plus those of Attica (the Athens area) and Thessalonika making
a total of 53 police districts. Each district has a Police
Department which, within its jurisdiction, exercises all police
powers provided by state laws; it is answerable to the Ministry
of Public Order and headed by a Police Director (in Attica and
Thessalonika there is a General Police Department, directed by
a Major General or a Brigadier General). The Police Departments
are directly responsible to the Chief of Police, the supreme
police commander in the Ministry of Public Order.
Each prefecture has a Police Committee consisting of a
Nomarch (the governmental representative in the prefecture) as
its President, a representative from the local union of
communities and municipalities, the Police Director (a Colonel)
of the precinct in question (who acts as rapporteur) and a judge
of the regional court of the precinct. The function of this
Committee is to decide what action should be taken if there is
a risk of public disorder through riots, fires, disasters, etc.
It also acts as an advisory body on regional affairs to the
Ministry of Public Order.
In recent years considerable efforts have been made to
professionalise and modernise the police force, including its
logistics, communications and equipment, and an Automatic
Fingerprint Investigation System is currently being implemented.
Special Units
The counter-terrorist Special Security Group, formed in 1976,
protects vulnerable objects and persons and has SWAT and sniper
capabilities. In 1988, after the terrorist attack on the cruise
ship City of Poros, a special 200-strong seaborne anti-terrorist
unit was established. The Athens Police maintains a semi-
permanent riot squad.
Other units
Tourist police (drawn from the national police) patrol airports
and serve as guides. There are also Customs Guards, the Ports
Police, the Forest Police, and the Agrarian Police.
Weaponry and special equipment
All police officers except women carry sidearms and clubs while
on regular duty. In emergencies, heavier weapons are issued and
armoured personnel carriers can be deployed.
II. INTERNAL SECURITY AGENCIES
The Greek national intelligence service, the EYP (formerly KYP),
has six directorates covering national and military security,
political and economic intelligence, counter-espionage, analysis
and distribution, and administration. Besides the EYP there is
A2, the military<