Greek prison guards still armed with revolvers

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AlexanderA

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According to an article in the Athens daily Kathimerini, the union representing the Greek external (perimeter) prison guards is complaining that they are still being armed with obsolete revolvers, despite promises to the contrary. The weapons in question are .32 cal. models of 1911 and 1917, and .38 cal.models of 1935 and 1950 (brand unspecified).

This service is the only police agency in Greece still armed with revolvers.

Some members of this service are buying their own semiautomatic pistols at a cost exceeding 700 euros apiece.

For pictures, see https://www.kathimerini.gr/society/...stoli-tis-omospondias-sto-ypropo-fotografies/
 
Well, one does have to consider that the hardware may be so old that it's time to retire them for metal fatigue :rofl:
 
I used Google Translate to translate the page that @AlexanderA posted


The prison guard with weapons of 1911 - Letter of the Federation to YPROPO (photos)

upload_2021-9-16_15-54-3.jpeg

The Panhellenic Federation of External Guard Officers (POYEF) refers to the obsolete armament of the Foreign Guards of the prison in a letter, inter alia, to the Minister of Civil Protection, requesting the replacement of the revolvers used by modern pistols.

upload_2021-9-16_15-54-38.jpeg

The verbal assurances of our political leaders that replacing revolvers with modern pistols would be "easy" left us with a sense of satisfaction. Instead, almost 2 years later, it seems that the replacement of the obsolete and the provision of modern atomic armament, not only was not "easy", but the difficulty concerns only our Service, since the Ministry for other "co-located" Services within ", it easily announces competitions for thousands of pistols, distributing them everywhere, except for the Foreign Guard", adds the Federation.

upload_2021-9-16_15-55-23.jpeg

It is also noted that "the minimum obligation of the State to our Service was and remains, to ensure that each Foreign Guard has modern individual weapons, although many of our colleagues over the years and waiting for the non-existent care of many years of political and service of its agents, made a purchase of their own, being charged with amounts over 700.00 euros each ".
 
I'd expect that the age and wear on those weapons has far more to do with serviceability than that they are wheelies vs bottom feeders. They might be completely spanked.
 
1goodshot said:
A rifle would be better for a perimeter guard
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These are their individual weapons, which presumably they get to take home. I'm sure they have heavier weaponry when manning the guard towers, etc. Note that the interior guards within the prisons are unarmed.

The Greek penal system, in general, is lax. There is no death penalty, and a life sentence, in practice, amounts to somewhere between 16 and 25 years. You would think that the prisoners would simply wait out their sentences, but once in a while there are spectacular escapes, including by helicopter landing in the prison yard.

Google Translate, as usual, is comical, although I was surprised that it got the gist of the story correct.
 
I think all law enforcement person should have the very best protection however not all law enforcement personnel have the same needs. Police patrolling the streets need better sidearms because today criminals on the streets are also armed with better weapons. However prisoners in jails are unarmed except for shanks, hammers, etc. which are the same primitive weapons that can be secretly made in prisons for 100's of years. Therefore if the weapons faced by prison guards have not changed and revolvers were adequate for prison guards 50 years ago they should be equally effective today. I'm not saying that prison guards should be necessarily armed with lesser weapons but if money is a concern (as it probably is in Greece) police needs should be addressed before those of prison guards.
 
We swapped out Ruger Service Six's over 20 years ago for Glock 19s. Have we shot anyone with one yet? Nope, which means the OTHER polices and practices are working. Handguns are a last resort, and if my staff are firing handguns at escapees, that means a LOT of other things went wrong very, very badly.
Having said that - upgrade, Greece - there are a lot of deals in the world today for bulk purchases of quality sidearms. CZ would probably be very happy to see you a nice load of CZ P-10Cs.
 
Somebody put in a suggestion to plant trees through out the compound as a helicopter landing deterrent. The suggestion awards committee gave them a $100 incentive. However the trees never got planted as the security review committee said they would hinder video surveillance.

At the academy one of the instructors said “If an inmate ever gets over the fence do not shoot him. Run over him with the patrol vehicle. It is much less paperwork for a vehicle collision than a shooting.”
 
Dibbs said:
What might make this story interesting is when was the last time a guard used a pistol against a prisoner?
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Good question. I think the primary threat would come from outside the prison, if the criminals' confederates try to break them out. This is a particular problem in Greece, where many of the convicts are tied to terrorist and other gangs. Since the standard weapon of these gangs is the Kalashnikov, the guards are justified in feeling undergunned.
 
Roverguy said:
According to the Google translation of the article posed above, the perimeter guards are seeking “modern, atomic armament”.

I’m strongly opposed to that.
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Google funnies. In Greek, the word "atomiko" means "individual." A "nuclear weapon" would be "pyriniko oplo." ("Pyrinas" = "nucleus.") This is why you should never rely on a machine translation.
 
It's possible the "external" guards may have to transport prisoners, in which case they could possibly be up against better armed assailants trying to break free their buddies.

While a revolver can be effective, it's also limited.

This also answers a question from another thread: "Are any agencies still using revolvers?"
 
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