Police officers are living a reality that leaves them far from satisfied. On the one hand they face daily life on the frontline: a profession fraught with heightened risks, unpredictable circumstances and relentless pressure. On the other, they see their demands gathering dust in the drawers of the Ministry of Justice, promises vanish with time and the State display inertia towards the problems of one of its most critical public-safety pillars.
Issues that lie at the heart of their everyday professional life - like shift patterns, understaffing, inadequate infrastructure and zero care for their physical and mental health - are treated with indifference. Many of these requests concern labour rights, as the president of the Police Branch of the nationwide Equality Union, Nikos Loizidis, told Politis. They have been pending for years and still remain unanswered, despite their urgency and seriousness.
Dignity and safety
“We are not asking for privileges,” Mr Loizidis emphasizes, “we demand fair treatment and to work with dignity and safety.” He points out that despite unfulfilled promises, police officers continue to serve daily at the frontline, giving their best for the protection of citizens and the maintenance of public order.
According to Mr Loizidis, several critical matters affecting their working conditions remain unresolved. These include:
Voluntary early retirement programme
A scheme should be implemented annually allowing early voluntary retirement after age 55 for Special Constables, Constables and Sergeants whose current retirement age is 62, and after 56 for ranks from Inspectors and above whose retirement age is 63. Today, the average age in the Police Force is 47, and in five years it will exceed 52. “Shift-work and many years of service wear staff down, together with the danger and psychological burden of the job. A normal person might face three traumatic stress incidents in their life - a frontline officer might face 400 to 500 according to studies. The Police Force needs renewal. Financially, replacing one older officer allows the hiring of at least two young ones,” he said.
Danger-pay bonus and insurance
Once the various units of the Police are differentiated - as has long been done in other European countries - the corresponding reward must follow through the payment of a danger-pay bonus according to the risk. In Greece, this bonus is already paid to all security services.
Police officers also demand safety whilst on duty. Many remain uninsured, despite hundreds of injuries and deaths occurring in the line of duty. A study prepared by the Union and submitted to the Ministry of Justice and the Police Headquarters proposes compensation for death, total or partial disability, and a sickness-leave allowance.
Unpaid labour
They also call for the restoration of allowances abolished in 2013 and the payment of cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) at 100%. The abolished allowances due to the financial crisis that have not been reinstated are: good-conduct allowance, uniform allowance, rental allowance, late-shift allowance and travel-mileage allowance. They further demand the elimination of unpaid standby duty by paying an on-call allowance and the settlement of all overtime and hire payments within two months.
Transfers, promotions, discipline and recruitment
In respect of transfers, the Union seeks the introduction of points-scoring for service in frontline units and mandatory service in specific sections for new officers. Regarding promotions, they call for separate scoring for diploma-holders, masters and doctorate credits, and those who have served many years in frontline divisions. They also want psychometric tests introduced for senior ranks to assess leadership capacity.
Concerning disciplinary investigations, officers demand clearly defined penalties for each offence, the abolition of the single-member committee and the disconnection of disciplinary penalties for certain offences from promotion eligibility. They also want the difficulty level of psychometric recruitment tests reduced and the evaluation process revised. Additionally, soldiers who served in special forces should receive priority in recruitment as Special Constables.
Sick leave
On sick-leave policy and absences, officers are requesting the reinstatement of the right to eight days’ annual leave without medical certification (as applies for other civil servants). This right was abolished for police officers. Since the working hours of the Police were aligned with those of the Public Service, the sick-leave protocols should also align accordingly.
Increase in established posts
The Police currently lack administrative staff, resulting in many officers performing office roles rather than purely policing. The Police Headquarters completed in late 2023 a study on hiring nearly 400 civilians for administrative posts, yet no recruitments have been announced.
In addition, officers request the elimination of non-policing duties, such as serving tax notices to reservists, serving court warrants and municipal-policing tasks.
Legislative reform
The call to amend the laws governing the Police Service aims to stiffen penalties for attacks on officers, include policing as one of the dangerous professions, install cameras on busy roads for the investigation of serious offences, and relieve the Chief of Police of subordination to the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Claims and Complaints against the Police when conducting disciplinary investigations.
Strengthening the frontline
A reorganisation of the structure is imperative, with a clear definition of duties and high-risk services. Various units should be reduced and merged to enable faster incident response and more effective investigations. Currently, the lack of separation between departmental categories makes it impossible to distinguish productivity of frontline officers from support staff. This is a key first step towards meaningful restructuring of the Force, according to the Police Union.
Body armour and vehicles
Members serving in frontline units should be provided, without exception, with bullet-proof vests, modern weapons, electro-shock devices (Tasers) used in many countries to immobilise suspects, and flash-bang devices. Police vehicles should be armoured and police stations should have reinforced external security and limited visibility from the outside. They also request the creation of a dedicated application giving each officer secure access to the Force’s system depending on their unit, for checks, prevention and communication of confidential operational information. In parallel, they call for cooperation with the Copernicus satellite programme to provide reliable earth-observation data for crime scenes. Crucially, they seek the upgrade of technology to track mobile phones.
Uniform
The current uniform is considered outdated and entirely impractical by the officers. Regarding their appearance, they demand enforcement of the Ombudsman’s 2014 ruling permitting trim beards and hair for officers in operational uniform.