Police’s new techniques for clues on terrorists
Following a shakeup of the hierarchy of the police force last week, law enforcement is aiming to improve its techniques for collecting information on the domestic terrorists that have made an emphatic reappearance over the last few months, sources have told Sunday’s Kathimerini. There is said to be concern within police ranks that either Revolutionary Struggle or the newly emergent Sect of Revolutionaries are preparing a spectacular strike in the coming days. This has led to increased efforts by officers to try to track down members of these groups. Sources said that Alternate Interior Minister Christos Markoyiannakis, who is responsible for matters of public order, chaired a meeting of police chiefs, including the newly promoted officers, on Thursday in a bid to re-organize the force’s approach to tackling terrorism. The department responsible for collecting information covertly on terrorism suspects was dismantled by Vyron Polydoras when he was public order minister between 2006 and 2007, but it was decided during the meeting that this service needs to be reactivated. «It is impossible for us to devote the resources needed to protect every possible target,» a high-ranking source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Sunday’s Kathimerini. «Therefore, we have to concentrate our efforts on trying to collect information. Our aim is to infiltrate these groups so we can learn more about people and events. We need to take part in surgical strikes rather than a pitched battle.» So far, police have arrived at the conclusion that at least one or two people are members of both terror groups and that the organizations get hold of their weapons from Albania.
