In the wake of the rash of burglaries plaguing Pano Gouves, as well as most of the other villages throughout the townships (as reported in last month's page one story), The Khronicles news team sat down with Deputy Chief Emmanuil Petrakis of the Hersonisos Police Department to determine what the police are doing to allay the fears of local residents.

Following is a summary of this newspaper's exclusive interview with Chief Petrakis.

The Khronicles: As we reported in our story last month, people say they are afraid to leave their homes. Are there any investigations in progress or any leads regarding all those robberies?

Chief Petrakis: In every case when a robbery is reported, we take certain steps. We autopsy the crime site, make notes from where the robbers gained access and in many cases, when appropriate, our crime scene investigators take fingerprints.  This is an especially difficult job as this precinct covers an exceptionally large area from Malia through Hersonisos to Gournes, ending up at the old base. And you must consider that the allocated winter police force, for obvious reasons, is considerably less than the summer, when we get police academy cadets as summer help.

Indeed, in past months there have been robberies that had us worried. This has also been put forth as an issue to the main police body in Iraklion. They in turn have been strengthening our department with a new Special Forces unit (ΕΙΔΑΣΥΔΕ), which is based in Iraklion and is able to respond throughout the region. During some evening hours they come into our area and, under the orders of our department, act as a crime prevention and crime prosecution squad.  They cruise around many times and especially during evening hours.   

At this point, I can say that in the past 20 days we have not had any new reports about thefts, which is good on one hand as the perpetrators might be alarmed by the stepped-up patrols, but it also worries us because the thieves could have been passer-bys and have now moved on to different areas.  As you know, we have had some extreme cases where the thieves could not open safes in churches so they ripped them out of the wall with jimmies.    

The Khronicles: Do you think the economic crisis adds to the crime situation?

Chief Petrakis: Absolutely. We have had reports where during a break in they take canned goods and clothing . . . even bags with rusks!  Many people are hungry out there. We don’t think it’s the Albanians anymore, as they have been here for quite a few years now and they have integrated into our society, economy and job market. Now we have many people coming in from Romania and Bulgaria. These countries are poor and the people have different cultural perceptions on how to earn a living.

The Khronicles: Can we conclude, then, that there is evidence that foreigners are involved in the robberies?

Chief Petrakis: Yes, I believe there is enough evidence to support that idea. I should also add that thankfully there is very little violence involved.

Furthermore, I believe that the problems with policing and crime prevention will gradually improve. Already there has been a law voted on police reformation. It has been forecasted that the Hersonisos police department will soon get an added detective unit, fifteen strong, which will deal exclusively with crime prevention.   

The Khronicles: It has been mentioned that the restructuring and personnel reinforcement of the Iraklion Province Police has been delayed unjustifiably. Why is that?

Chief Petrakis: There still exist certain problems, mainly in housing the additional departments, as well as in making proper arrangements so it can begin to function properly.

The Khronicles: Any truth to the ongoing rumours about moving this precinct to new and more spacious quarters on the old base in Gournes?

Chief Petrakis: No, our building here is privately owned and belongs to the police. There have been, in the past, discussions about moving it to some six stremmata owned by the Public Real Estate Agency (Ktimatiki) near the Belvedere Hotel, but it hasn’t progressed further than the discussion stages.

The truth is that the Gouves Municipality is one of the quietest areas of all the regions we patrol. First comes Malia in criminality, especially in the summertime, then Hersonisos and afterwards is Gouves. The policing of an area for the most part depends on the gravity of the incidents and in that respect the Gouves Municipality is somewhat forgotten.  

The Khronicles: Since you brought it up, are there any new plans to insure that the Malia situation will be handled better this season?

Chief Petrakis: Very soon there will be a formal announcement from the main Iraklion Police announcing the diplomatic policy plan for the region, including all the municipalities. We cannot assume that we will eliminate all the existing problems, but I'd like to point out that last season was our most successful thus far in confronting the summer lawbreakers. 

We must all bear in mind that certain tourist offices and clubs promote cheap alcohol-related tourism. I like to believe that this year there will be an even better management of the resulting problems here with the increased police force in the region.