POLICE STEP UP PATROLS IN OLD NICOSIA

 Cyprus Mail 25 August 2020 - by Nick Theodoulou

Police patrols are being stepped up in the old town of Nicosia along with plans for a new police station along Ledra street.

The beefed-up patrols, which will include officials from migration services and the rapid response team (MMAD), were ordered by police chief Stelios Papatheodorou.

A police patrol vehicle has also been permanently parked at the beginning of Ledra street, near Eleftheria Square, for the past few days to secure the area.

Throughout the week there will also be a four-person police patrol throughout the area which will increase to ten officers during the busier times on weekends.

There will also be two members from MMAD patrolling as well as officials from the migration services throughout the week.

Patrols cars monitoring the wider area will also pass through the old town more often.

Papatheodorou said the new measures come after calls from business owners and residents in the area to increase public safety.

The small police station at the end of Ledra street is to be upgraded, as well as plans for a new station towards the beginning or the middle of the busy shopping street.

In the last couple of years a series of violent incidents have caused concern amongst shop owners, residents and visitors to the old town.

In late May, a Vietnamese woman was found dead near Ledra street after being stabbed twenty times. A 64-year-old Romanian was also found dead in the same apartment.

In June, a fight involving around 15 people in Ledra street left one man dead and another in critical condition.