On Friday, 6 May 2022, the Hellenic Police organized, in the outdoor area of the Municipal Theater of Piraeus, an open information day under the Be Secure Feel Secure (BSFS) project .
This event was organized in the framework of the deliverable “Open information Days” of the project in order to present the progress and its results to the general public. Along with the info day, the four cars and two motorcycles acquired by the BSFS project, were presented.
Present to this open information day were the Mayor of Piraeus, Mr. Ioannis Moralis, Deputy Mayors of Piraeus, the Chairwoman of Piraeus’ Local Council for Crime Prevention Mrs. Kyriaki Bourdakou, the Director of the Piraeus Police Department Βrigadier Protosialos Kostazos, the Professor of Criminology, Director of the Laboratory of Urban Criminology (EASTE) of Panteion University and BSFS Scientific Coordinator Mrs. Christina Zarafonitou, representatives of the European & Development Programs Division of the Ministry of Citizen Protection, as well as representatives of the Crime Victims Information Unit (METHE) of the Municipality of Piraeus, which was established under the BSFS project.
On behalf of the Hellenic Police, the Director of Piraeus Police Directorate Βrigadier Protosialos Kostazos, made a statement concerning the added value of the project for the local Police Departments. Moreover, representatives of the Hellenic Police Headquarters were present as well as police officers of the local Police Departments.
The Piraeus Mayor Mr. Ioannis Moralis, in his statement, mentioned:
«The BSFS project provides tangible and positive results for the city of Piraeus. Among its innovative interventions is the reinforcement and modernization of the Piraeus Police Directorate fleet, with 6 new police vehicles. The city of Piraeus has an excellent cooperation with the Police Directorate of Piraeus the Brigadier Mr. Kostazos and all his associates and I am glad that the Municipality of Piraeus is participating in an action to strengthen urban security”.
It is noted that, in the framework of this innovative action, six new vehicles were delivered, including 2 motorcycles, which will strengthen the fleet of the Piraeus Police Directorate and will contribute to the strengthening of patrols and visible policing actions, at local level.
The new vehicles are already being used in the development of policing actions, with the aim to enhance urban security and to reduce crime in the intervention areas. Especially to the 5th Municipal district, which is a degraded, but also densely populated area from a social and economic point of view.
The innovation of the action, at national level, is that through the implementation of interconnected work packages aims to enhance the sense of security to the citizens through:
- the apply of a number of spatial interventions, such as image management, target hardening following the CPTED “Crime Prevention through Environmental Design” model, accompanied by social activation strategies to enhance community cohesion and connectivity at neighborhood level,
- the digital platform that enables the assessment of combined physical cyber threats and the visualization of risks and other relevant activities through geospatial mapping to facilitate decision-making,
- the procurement of vehicles for the Police Directorate of Piraeus that will contribute to the strengthening of the police patrols. The logs that will be collected during the patrols will “be used by the decision-making mechanism regarding the prevention and combating against crime through their proper evaluation and utilization, at both operational and upper level.
The reinforcement of the Piraeus Police Directorate with modern equipment is expected to strengthen crime prevention measures in the city, according to the specifications of the BeSecure-FeelSecure project (BSFS).
The project is funded by the “4th Urban Innovative Actions” Programme of the Thematic Unit “Urban Security” of the European Regional Development Fund and will be evaluated in the city of Piraeus, in order to create a series of guidelines which will then be adopted by other cities.
