Think about hearing the following news flash:

ROBBERIES RUN RAMPANT…ALMOST 10% OF HOMES BURGLARISED!

Perhaps you would think of Detroit in the US . . .  or maybe Kingston in Jamaica . . . or even Athens.

But think again!

Unbelievably, according to local citizens, that headline could best describe what's been going on in the quiet, residential community of Pano Gouves – a village of approximately 300 residents in about 200 homes.

"We've had more than 15 burglaries that we know of in the past year," stated Father Dimitrios Mihouthis, the local parish pastor. "The church itself has been robbed three times, that's how bad it has become. I don't even have the church safe fixed anymore since it's been broken into so many times."

Father Mihouthis said the residents of Pano Gouves are tired of being the prey of criminals and are demanding more adequate police protection which is the right of all citizens.

"All these burglaries should be exposed because my parishioners are insecure about their own safety and that of their homes and they want to express their worries," he said. "Perhaps we can finally get some action from the authorities."

Together with the parish priest, a news team from The Khronicles visited with some of the victims.

"This is where the robber got into my house," Kostas Synathinakis, a 73-year-old victim said, indicating a footprint on his white outer wall. "He stepped here, then pushed himself over my wall and into my courtyard, where he could then break into the house unobserved from the street."

Mr. Synathinakis, who has lived in the same house for 50 years with his wife, Evangelia, 70, said this was the first time he's ever been robbed.

"It was last October and we were at church at 8:30 in the morning," he recalled. "When we returned, the house looked as if 'the Tasmanian devil' had hurricaned through it . . . with cupboards and drawers opened, their contents spilled out and 450 Euros taken. The police came, saw the rooms, told us to go down to file a report, which we did, but never heard anything further. They never even took fingerprints or photograph the foot print."

Although they have now installed heavy duty locks and taken other security measures, Mrs. Synathinaki is still afraid and does not like to leave her house even to go shopping.

"This is no way to live, but what are we to do?" she said.

 The same sentiments were expressed by another elderly couple, Manolis Kantas, 79, and his wife, Maria, 70, whose village house, right on the main road just a few hundred metres away, was also burglarised a week prior.

"My wife was at church and I was working on my farm nearby," Mr. Kantas told us. "When I came home at around 10 in the morning, I discovered the front door was open. After checking around, I discovered that 140 Euros was missing, but, strangely, the jewellery was untouched. Maybe the robbers didn't have time."

Like her neighbour, Mrs. Kanta said she is now easily spooked and an approaching stranger on the street sends her running in the opposite direction.

The Synathinakis home, the Kantas home, the Travayiakis home, the Mastorakis home, the Karithis home . . . and the list goes on . . . and the citizens want help.

“Me and everyone else around would like to see the police come around, because now we feel we are at the mercy of the criminals," Father Mihouthis said. “There should be regular patrols at odd hours.”

Surprisingly, with all these burglaries the police don't seem to have a single lead, or even witness. Of course, there are so many different scenarios. Some say that possibly the thieves are local people who watch and act when a house is empty because the owner is out working, shopping or at church when the robberies occur.  Others say that occasionally there have been a couple of men going around knocking on doors, but always have a ready excuse if the owner of the house is home.

 While its citizens are being burglarised at an unprecedented rate, the Hersonissos police station, responsible for Pano Gouves, is spouting the same statements of being understaffed as it did in the September, 2007, edition of The Khronicles, which also concerned local burglaries.

This reporting team visited the headquarters only to be rebuffed by its commander, who shunted us off to his secretariat office and admonished: "Don't use any names!"

“Our patrols take us from the Malia antiquities to the Lasithi borderline to the American base in Gouves," the nameless assistant said.  "It’s just not possible to patrol any one area for too long or as often as we would like. On any given shift there are only three to four policemen available."

 When asked what can be done right now so that people can feel safe and protected, Sgt. Anonymous put the ball back in the court of the citizen.

"The people themselves must try to secure and watch their homes as best as they can," he said. "Many times people leave their front doors open, or keys on the doors or put the key in such obvious places." Then he added: "But we do our best.  Other than regular patrols there are also plainclothesmen out there who drive around and watch."

Gouves Town Councilman Mihalis Plevrakis has often taken issue with the lack of response by the Hersonissos police to problems in Gouves.

“I believe it’s high time the demos council denounces and condemns the non-existence of policing in the area," he stated. "The residents can no longer live with these robberies and insecurity in their daily life.”

When posed with the same questions, Gouves Vice Mayor Evangelos Hatzakis, spoke about a “dysfunctional process” with different areas of the Gouves township under three different police department jurisdictions.

 “Our demand is for the creation of a police department for just our demos due to its ever growing size and its tourism development," he said.  "The mayor has made certain contacts in Athens with the proper ministries to push this through. Meanwhile, the Hersonissos police must increase its force in order to adequately serve all the people because as you know in addition to their Hersonissos responsibilities they also answer calls up to the base."

When asked about the reality of a Gouves police department, Mr. Hatzakis said: "about six or seven years ago we seemed to be pretty near in realizing it but governments change, the time passes and plans have to be modified. Mayor Nikolakakis, has not only sought the creation of a Gouves police force, but also joined with Hersonissos and Malia in asking the Ministry of the Interior for urgent help . . . and we wait!"

Meanwhile, a controversial presidential order was signed last August enumerating various police services and for increasing personnel for Iraklion. For example, it gives the possibility to each police chief to create Prevention Teams for the Repression of Crime with a force of up to 40 policemen.

In connection with this order, Manolis Stratakis, Iraklion MP, spoke about “the negligence of the Government to realize its own decrees."  He points out that “the more-than-six-month-delay is unjustified” and asks the Ministry of the Interior for “the timetable in staffing the police departments and services in all of the Iraklion Province."

As on observer put it, "so far there is nothing but talk . . . as the police and government fiddle around, Gouves continues to burn."