Hellenic Police
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Hellenic Police Ελληνική Αστυνομία Elliniki Astynomia |
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| Abbreviation | ΕΛ.ΑΣ |
Logo of the Hellenic Police
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1984 |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
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National agency (Operations jurisdiction) |
GR |
| Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction. |
| Governing body | Ministry of Citizen Protection |
| Constituting instrument | Law 1481/1-10-1984 |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Sworn members | 55,000 |
| Minister responsible | Giannis Panousis, Minister for Citizen Protection |
| Agency executives | |
| Website | |
| www.astynomia.gr | |
The Hellenic Police (Greek: Ελληνική Αστυνομία, Elliniki Astynomia, abbreviated ΕΛ.ΑΣ.) is the national police service of Greece. It is a very large agency with its responsibilities ranging from road traffic control to counter-terrorism. Its current chief is Police Lieutenant General Nikos Papagiannopoulos.
The Hellenic Police force was established in 1984 under Law 1481/1-10-1984 (Government Gazette 152 A) as the result of the fusion of the Gendarmerie (Χωροφυλακή, Chorofylaki) and the Cities Police (Αστυνομία Πόλεων, Astynomia Poleon) forces.
According to Law 2800/2000, the Hellenic Police is a security organ whose primary aims are:
The Hellenic Police is constituted along central and regional lines. The force takes direction from the Minister for Citizen Protection.
The force consists of police officers, civilians, border guards and Special Police Guards.
The Hellenic Police force is headed in a de jure sense by the Minister of Public Order and Citizen Protection, however, although he sets the general policy direction of Greece's stance towards law and order as a whole, the Chief of Police is the day-to-day head of the force. Underneath the Chief of Police is the Deputy Chief of Police whose role is largely advisory, though in the event of the Chief of Police being unable to assume his duties the Deputy Chief will take over as the interim head. Regular meetings are also held with the Council of Planning and Crisis Management who are drawn from the heads of the main divisions of the police force and raise relevant issues with the Chief of Police him/herself. Underneath the Deputy Chief of Police is the Head of Staff, who, in addition to acting as 'Principal' of the Police Academy, heads the Security and Order Branch, Administrative Support Branch and Economical-Technical and Information Support Branch. Equal in rank to the Head of Staff are the General Inspectors of Southern and Northern Greece, who have under their jurisdiction the regional services of both these divisions. The Security and Order Branch is by far the most important, and includes the General Police Division, the Public Security Division and the State Security Division, among others.
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Wikipedia