Greece’s Municipal Police (Dimotiki Astynomia) are set to take on a much bigger role on city streets, with a new framework allowing officers to make arrests, operate around the clock and carry bulletproof vests, handcuffs and batons.
The changes are set out in a circular from Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios, which describes the service’s new operating framework and the adjustments municipalities must make, Ta Nea reported on Tuesday.
Arrest powers, vests and batons
Under the framework, municipal police officers will be equipped with bulletproof vests, handcuffs and a police defence baton, according to Ta Nea. In specific cases, they are recognised as having the status and powers of special investigating officers, and their duties now include the ability to arrest offenders under the conditions set by law.
The framework also strengthens criminal-law protection for municipal police officers against violence and disobedience while on duty, the newspaper reported.
The service is to run on a 24-hour basis with three shifts. Mononews reported that the shifts would cover every day of the week, allowing checks outside normal hours.
Taking on traffic police duties
The new powers bring the Municipal Police into areas that until now were mainly the responsibility of the Traffic Police, Ta Nea reported, from illegal parking and checks on drivers and vehicles to immobilising vehicles.
According to Mononews and iEidiseis, the expanded responsibilities include:
- checks on driving licences, vehicle immobilisation and safe transport, with a focus on helmet use on two-wheelers
- enforcing rules for bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles and electric scooters
- illegal stopping and parking, with particular attention to electric vehicle charging bays
- illegal payments demanded in exchange for finding parking spaces
- checking whether vehicles carry legally required equipment
These sit alongside existing duties such as traffic regulation, controlled parking, pedestrian crossings and emissions checks. The service also retains work on municipal decisions, pets, building controls, civil protection, street trading, food premises and noise pollution, the latter in coordination with the Hellenic Police.
The Municipal Police will not take over all Traffic Police work. Checks on trucks, and road occupations on national and provincial roads, are excluded, according to Mononews, citing Eleftheros Typos.
Athens has the officers, others do not
A key question is whether the new powers will come with the personnel, equipment and operational readiness needed, Ta Nea noted.
According to the ministry’s circular, the City of Athens has 522 municipal police officers on staff, based on the public sector’s human resources management system. The adequacy threshold, calculated by dividing the permanent population by 2,000, is 322 for Athens (643,452 residents).
The picture is very different in the Municipality of Elliniko–Argyroupoli. With 50,027 permanent residents, its minimum is 30 municipal police officers, but just eight currently serve.
“I will see how I can strengthen the Municipal Police, possibly by giving the imposition of fines to administrative staff and leaving the policing to municipal police officers, who, however, in order to have these new powers, must go through the required training,” Elliniko–Argyroupoli Mayor Giannis Konstantatos told Ta Nea.
More flexibility for councils
Under the new regime, municipal councils can, by an increased majority, reallocate responsibilities between services, removing or adding duties depending on local needs. Municipalities without their own Municipal Police can cooperate with others through inter-municipal agreements.
During a transitional period to 2027, related duties may also be temporarily assigned to other municipal employees, under the conditions of the new framework.
Ta Nea said the effectiveness of the service would now be judged not only by its presence on the streets, but by its ability to handle more demanding incidents with professionalism, training and a clear division of responsibilities.
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