Rational Use of Police Forces
The announcement by the new Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, of armed police patrols in city centres, has put Volt on alert.
Such decisions have to be justified by statistics of increased violent crime in these areas. The issue of armed policing cannot be another attempt to distract from the real problems that plague the police.
Citizens feel insecure about the bombs on public prosecutors, the attempted murders on busy streets, the gangster killings in city centres and the daily bombings by the criminal underworld.
Volt calls for the rational use of police resources to tackle the real problems of crime and not for purposes of abuse of power which usually just leads to the intimidation of vulnerable groups of people.
Instead of engaging in communication tactics, as it has become accustomed to doing, the government should tell us what the police plan is to crack down on organised crime, which is once again on the rise due to the total absence or inadequacy of the security forces.
Moreover, the fact that the victim of a gangster attempted murder simply boarded a plane and disappeared without even giving a statement leaves the Cypriot police and authorities exposed once again.