EU program aims to train police to tackle jihadists
A European Union-funded program that is to get under way in the coming weeks aims to train 60 police officers to be specialists in tracing and cracking down on Islamic fundamentalism and extremism.
The program, which has a budget of 145,000 euros, is to be overseen by the Center for Security Studies, which comes under the umbrella of the Interior Ministry. The officers to be trained have been selected from the counterterrorism and immigration departments as well as the Security Police. The aim is to train the officers by October.
Dimitris Anagnostakis, general secretary of public order at the Citizens’ Protection Ministry, told Kathimerini that the EU-sponsored program was a welcome boost for officers who lack the training to deal with suspects who may have links to Islamic extremism.
“We are trying to make use of any funding that is offered to us so we can be as prepared as possible to deal with a social phenomenon that is on the rise,” he said.
