A culture of unprofessionalism?
Every time that any major event is organized in this country, there is always talk of the «draconian security measures» that have been implemented, with the 3,000 police officers who are mobilized to protect the capital. Exactly the same thing happened last week when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Athens to sign a long-awaited oil pipeline deal. But most telling were the sights I witnessed while walking through Athens one night after the protests climaxed on March 8. Scene 1: Pairs of policemen were «patrolling» virtually every street corner in the city center. In most cases, one was talking on his mobile telephone while the other dawdled indolently. In any case, none of these officers appeared to be paying any attention to what was going on around them. Scene 2: On the road next to the Hilton Hotel, there were two riot police vans. A youngster on a scooter had just delivered pizzas and a general atmosphere of pleasantry and mirth prevailed in the police vehicles. Scene 3: A police patrol car was parked outside the Israeli Embassy, just as on every other night. The two policemen in the car were also busy – one talking on his telephone and the other sleeping. I do not have any problem with Greek police officers, most of whom do their jobs very professionally. We must also realize that they too are ordinary people and so we should not expect them to greatly differ from the rest of the population. But this is exactly the problem. The culture of professionalism at work that we see in Germany and America does not really suit us Greeks. Whatever we do, we will never be able to religiously follow strict rules. I often feel a surge of annoyance when I enter a government building here and am obliged to undergo an inspection. Although I would accept this treatment without comment in a foreign country, in Greece a part of me is compelled to put up a slight resistance. There is no real solution to the problem, short of instilling Greek policemen with large quantities of German DNA or enforcing a strict system of penalties for slackers. In any case, the latter solution cannot be enforced while there are unionists on disciplinary councils justifying all those charged with misdeeds. Of course, Greece is still a very safe country that has overcome major challenges – such as organizing and hosting the Athens 2004 Olympics – without major problems. Let us hope that when something serious happens in this city, our police officers will not be caught off guard, eating pizza or sleeping.
