Dressed in black and heavily armed with automatic weapons, night binoculars, sound and light flares and tear gas, the special commandos will be deployed in metro stations and other busy spots in Athens to locate …wallet snatchers. Greek Police named the impressive police teams “Black Panthers.”
Black Panthers? Epic Fail for a name that directly associates the super commandos against street thieves with the US revolutionary political organization famous among others for its firefights with police.
According to daily Eleftheros Typos, four teams of five police officers have already been set up, each with heavy weapons, bulletproof vests, night vision binoculars, flash and sound grenades.
The number of police officers who will be part of the squads is expected to increase soon.
.The officers will “constantly be out of the police vehicles, with the aim of deterring their presence and instilling a sense of security in those who see them.”
The special teams will be deployed in areas like Dionysiou Areopagitou Street under the Acropolis, around the Acropolis Museum, the Philopappou Hill, the Panathenaic Stadium, the Temples of Olympian Zeus, Syntagma Square, Monument of the Unknown Soldier, Ermou-Kapnikarea and Monastiraki Square, in short in very touristic areas.
According to the daily, the Black Panthers will patrol at public transport stations as well as at the metro stations. Security officials reportedly will develop an information network with access to Metro Camera Control Centers in order “to map the actions of criminal groups” operating in those areas.
The Black Panthers have already made their appearance in downtown Athens.
PS Rumors have it that the name “Pink Panthers” was registered under copy right law….
Yes the name of the unit is a big fail but in reality they just normalizing something that is happening for years since the introduction of the Δ units
The officers wasn’t issued biker’s gear like the old Z unit instead they were expected to buy their own gear or wear the army style dark blue uniforms even in poor weather conditions with out any concerns about the biker’s safety