By Andria Kades
Although 120 army officers have been transferred to the police force, procedures to hire another 300 police officers need to start immediately, the House defence committee heard on Thursday.
Briefing deputies on measures put in place against terrorism, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said whether the army officers remained with the police was being evaluated based on current threat levels.
Thus far, the 120 army officers in place since December 22 for three months will remain where they are.
Committee chairman George Varnava however raised concerns the transfer had weakened the army, a matter particularly worrying when, as DIKO MP Fytos Constantinou said, there is an occupying force on the island.
Aware of increased security risks over the past few months and the state’s responsibility to take measures protecting its citizens “on the other hand, we also recognise the fact that when a number of personnel is moved from one force to another service, this means something is being weakened,” Varnava said.
Expressing the view of the committee, he added that although announcing 300 new job openings in the police force could be subject to pre-election exploitation, the procedure needed to start immediately.
“Police duties have increased and the number of members in the force have been reduced by 450 – 500 people. For this reason we hope the procedure to hire a large number of officers will begin so there will be no need to renew the stay of military personnel in the police force,” Varnava said.
According to the justice minister, the 120 army officers have the same duties as police officers and they should also have the same benefits – something the finance ministry will also briefed on.
He ruled out transferring any more army officers at the moment.
Since the November Paris attacks, local forces have upped security particularly in points of entry and exit of the Republic such as the airports and ports with police officers on more patrols and reports of overtime work.
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