Kypros Michaelides was sworn in as the new chief of police at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday morning.
Michaelides takes over after the dismissal of former chief Zacharias Chrysostomou by the President over the reported police mishandling of the disappearances of migrant women. Five of them have been found murdered by a 35 year old suspected serial killer.
“Unfortunately due to negligence by certain members of the force regarding cases of missing persons, police’s prestige was damaged, forcing me to take the unpleasant decision to dismiss the chief of police,” the President said.
Michaelides said that one of his main priorities will be to combat organised crime.
Talking about the serial killer case he offered apologies to the families of the victims.
“I want to offer an apology because we did not manage to protect these innocent souls who met their demise in a tragic and gruesome way,” Michaelides said.
“On behalf of the police department, I wish to express our sorrow and disgust as well as our most sincere condolences to the families of the victims,” he added.
The new police chief joined the force in April 1977 and has served as Assistant Police Commander (Operations) of Nicosia Police Division, Commander of Nicosia Police Division and Commander of Limassol Police Division. He holds a postgraduate degree in ‘Police Management’.
Stylianos Papatheodorou replaces Michaelides as deputy chief. He formerly was assistant chief of police for operations.
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https://in-cyprus.com/kypros-michaelides-to-be-appointed-as-new-police-chief/
