Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis on Tuesday announced plans for 500 new police recruitments within 2024.
Hartsiotis explained that the new positions would include both contractors and special police officers.
In statements at the Limassol Police headquarters, he said that “understaffing is an issue that is being addressed. Within 2024, there will be specific recruitments, about 500 police officers, some at the level of contractors, others at the level of special police officers, which will provide a partial solution to the serious problem of understaffing.”
At the same time, he clarified that “based on the operational capacity of the Police, immediate measures must be taken. We cannot wait for the staffing procedures and the improvement of the building facilities when crime has reached a certain level. The goal is to improve with the existing means at this time.”
Regarding enhanced policing measures announced yesterday to combat organised crime and football violence, the Minister noted that “we are not talking about unprecedented measures. These are measures that were valid until yesterday and are applied. You will see in the announcement the great importance of the words empowerment and reinforcement. There are not many measures that we could invent. They are specific and apply globally. The issue is to be empowered and strengthened immediately with the existing personnel to see some better results.”
“I want to believe that soon we will have better results. Bombs and arson will not be eradicated. Crime is there and sometimes it increases and sometimes it declines,” he stressed.
