During a recent visit to the Iraklion police headquarters, a sign reading the neighbourhood policeman is daily always near us was spotted in the lobby, so we asked Brigadier Ioannis Mesodiakakis about it.

“The ‘neighbourhood policeman’ programme aims to reduce and prevent criminality, but is still a pilot programme which began several months ago, and is limited to the city of Iraklion for now,” he explained. “It consists of the city being sectioned in four parts, with a uniformed police officer patrolling each of the four neighbourhoods day and night.”

Chief Mesodiakakis said there are some very positive future expectations for closer relations between the neighbourhood police officer and the public.

“But in order for this programme to develop we need manpower and it is more a decision for the ministry,” he stated. “So far the results are great but in the present phase, as is the situation of the Iraklion police, it is a luxury for me to say that we have the possibility of extending this programme to the villages.”