Nine years in the pursuit of crime, having mourned the victims themselves, are a unit of Police that we have all encountered on the streets of the city. A unit that is characterized as one of the most effective of the Greek Police, although it has been criticized several times for its work and for excessive use of force in incidents that it has been called to deal with.
The reason for her men and women DI.AS Group that from 2010 when they were founded until today, many times at the risk of their lives, they ride their motorcycles and plow the neighborhoods of Athens in order to respond to the calls of the citizens.
According to them, the acceptance by the society, the recognition of their difficult work and of course the trust that they receive daily from the citizens, give them the strength to continue. As they say, the best reward is when mostly elderly people are saved from criminal They call them "their children", shake their hands and open their house to treat them to what they have, thus thanking them for their contribution.
They typically refer to the pregnant woman who was rescued in April 2018 on Kymi Avenue, the foreigner who had fallen victim to a robbery in Patision and was bleeding incessantly, whom they rescued using their glop and a belt to stop the bleeding, the woman who was saved from drowning in icy waters of Lake Pamvotida, the old woman in Rethymno who was rescued by burglars.
One would expect that in such a "ready" group the state would provide the best logistical equipment. But as they themselves complain, in order to obtain it, they have to put their hand deep in their pocket.
"The warehouses are empty," says the president of the special guards Vassilis Doumas, explaining that a DIAS police officer is required to pay from his salary an average of 500-1.000 euros per year in order to replace parts of his equipment that have worn out from use.
Their appearance is frightening. Robocop style equipment does not leave much room for misunderstanding of their role. Sometimes they "pull" it a little more. The uniform, you see, always. Charms. Not just others. And those who wear it.
We visited a store in the center of Athens from which many police officers buy necessary parts for their equipment and we did an autopsy.
Reliable safe full-face helmet, bone patches and elbows to "keep" the policeman safe in a fall, extra uniform, waterproof gloves, soft and waterproof boots are the most necessary for DIAS police officers who daily ride a they plow ”the neighborhoods of Athens and of course they cost.
- Helmet: 300-600 euros
- Gloves: 50 euros
- Knee pads: 20 euros
- Elbows: 20 euros
- Boots: 100 euros
- Extra uniform: 50 euros
- Extra Motorcycle jacket: 150-300 euros
The above cost goes up if the police officer undertakes to repair parts of the service motorcycle.
"It's a security issue for that and many of its police officers DI.AS they undertake to repair the motorcycles they ride every day ", says Vassilis Doumas.
According to data from SEFEAA (Association of Special Guards of the Greek Police of Attica), of the approximately 1.200 motorcycles available to the service, about half are immobilized and non-functional.
Despite the problems they face, the men of the DI.AS team. they claim that they will continue to move in the streets, to be close to the citizen who needs them, to be in the front line against crime. In the front line will be those who criticize them for excessive violence and incidents that could not get too big…