Police House to increase officer presence on central streets

Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis on Tuesday visited a building in Limassol which will be converted into the first Police House on the island, as part of efforts to bring police closer to the public.

The Police House, located on Anexartisias street in the heart of old Limassol, will operate with 15 community officers and eight officers, who will patrol on bicycles.

Yiolitis said the aim is to have constant police presence in the city centre “precisely to show the dynamic presence of the police and increase the citizen’s sense of security.

“We want our city centres to become places where children and citizens can move freely, feel safe, have the police next to them and not in against them,” she said.

If the operation of the first Police House, expected to be up and running by the beginning of next year, is deemed successful, more will be set up in other cities, she said.

Referring to this area, she said that “this building here was not chosen in random; it is in the centre of the old city of Limassol.

“We want to give back to the people the Limassol we remember, the Limassol we had when we grew up as children, who played in the streets and felt safe,” the minister said, who is from Limassol.

The Police House will operate around the clock.

Yiolitis thanked the Limassol mayor for his support and the Bishop of Limassol for offering the building.

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