Filenews 10 May 2025 - by Fanis Makridis
A directive from the leadership of the Police to all police directorates to deal with crime.
This is a written note sent by one of the four Assistant Chiefs of Police in the middle of the week to all the Police Directors of Districts (ADAs) of Cyprus and reveals the concern that exists about cases of crime.
At the same time, through this directive, it becomes clear that the police force is betting on the prevention sector, with emphasis on motorized patrols of members of the Force.
Patrols
More specifically, according to the content of this note, which -as "F" is able to know- has been in the hands of the police directors since last Wednesday, there will be an intensification of patrols with the participation of other services/departments of the Police.
Traffic Police and Stations
The patrols will also be strengthened by the provincial Traffic Police departments, but also by officers of the local police stations throughout Cyprus. Police directors are called upon to ensure that the patrol cars have the beacons in operation so that their presence is clearly visible.
In addition, policing will not be limited to main roads and citizen gathering points (shopping malls, etc.), but also to secondary road networks.
Areas with increased crime/delinquency will also not be overlooked. It should be noted here that based on statistics, police directors have an idea of the "hot" areas.
Control mechanism
On the basis of the instructions from the leadership of the Police Force, there will also be a control mechanism to ensure that these preventive policing measures are complied with and re-evaluated.
This can be inferred from two parameters highlighted in the note. Firstly, the heads of patrols are asked to record their daily activity and to submit a summary report on a weekly basis to the relevant police directorate.
In addition, in accordance with the written instructions, police directors are invited to submit a report to the monthly COMPSTAT meeting. The monthly COMPSTAT meeting (COMPuter-STATistics) is a process for evaluating the crime and performance of the Police, which is used in many countries and is also implemented by the Cyprus Police at the level of district and central directorates.
In this monthly meeting, statistics on crime, arrests, pending cases and successes per police department are presented. The effectiveness of measures taken is also evaluated, while the form of crime is also analyzed (if, for example, robberies, burglaries or traffic accidents increase).
The decisions taken by the Police Headquarters are not unrelated to cases of crime that have occurred and require a more intense presence of the Police on the streets, with the aim of prevention.
Three attacks in two hours
Also characteristic are the attacks that took place in Limassol in the middle of the week against three people who were riding on mopeds, within a period of only two hours. Specifically, late on Tuesday evening and until the dawn of Wednesday, three such incidents occurred in Agia Fyla, Germasogeia and in the center of Limassol, respectively. In one of the cases, the perpetrators also committed a robbery.
