Feral Jundi

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Law Enforcement: Greece Offers ‘Cop-For-Hire’ Service To Raise Cash

Filed under: Greece,Law Enforcement — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 7:59 AM

Next will be the military. lol Greece has definitely had some serious problems financially and when it’s police force has to do extreme measures like this, it makes you wonder.

Now here is the thing. The whole rule of ‘you get what you pay for’ or ‘you pay peanuts, you get monkeys’, definitely applies to this situation.  When you reduce salaries and benefits, what incentive does the police have to do well?  To actually police a community, a community that has decided to lower their salary. It reminds me of places like New Orleans which had some of the lowest paid cops in the country. And when hurricane Katrina hit, a lot of those NOLA cops just left.

Also, if you look at the photo below, those are Greek law enforcement involved with riot control. These guys have been very busy trying to maintain law and order in a very angry country. The last thing that country should do is make their police angry by messing with their pay.

Now on to the ‘cops for hire’ scheme. You see this happen in one form or the other all over the world. It’s just these guys are being very open and business-like about it. Of course Greece has a long history of hoplites for hire and I am sure Xenophon would approve of this modern scheme. lol But I do share the concern that once you get into this game, will they be able to effectively protect and serve the community, or will they become more concerned with protecting paying clients?

On the other hand, that community should take note. If your police are renting their services out, maybe that might be a hint that you are not paying them enough? –Matt

 

 

Greece offers “cop-for-hire” service to raise cash
Tue, Apr 10 2012
In a bid to raise cash, Greek police are offering a 30 euro ($39) per hour “cop-for-hire” scheme for private companies or citizens seeking protection at special events.
Police said the service was provided only under special circumstances, such as cases of high-security risk, and that revenues would be used to fund police equipment and boost the state budget. It used to be available for free before a debt crisis hit the country.
“We will provide these services only in exceptional cases and only if we have the available assets and staff. We’ll first make sure that no citizen is deprived of police protection,” police spokesman Thanassis Kokkalakis said on Tuesday.
Hiring a police officer for an hour costs 30 euros, according to the law, which has entered into force. A police vehicle escort, for example for the transfer of art works or other sensitive material, will cost an additional 40 euros per hour and a motorcycle escort 20 euros.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

History: Found–The Helmet Of An Ancient Greek Mercenary

Filed under: Greece,History,Israel — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 9:06 PM

At the time the helmet was made, circa 600 B.C., Greek colonies dotted the Mediterranean coast, stretching from the Black Sea to southern France. Even so, there is no evidence of Greek colonies in Israel, indicating the warrior who ventured into Haifa Bay was likely the leader of a group of Greek mercenaries.
This warrior was likely one of Egyptian pharaoh Necho II’s troops, which he sent through Israel accompanied by a fleet of ancient ships. The pharaoh was heavily involved in military campaigns in the region for nearly a decade, operations in which this warrior and his group likely were involved.
“They were not fighting for the Greeks, they were fighting for Egypt,” Sharvit told LiveScience in an interview.

This just popped up on my radar and I had to share. How cool is this? As to the history of this helmet, they speculate that the owner was a Greek mercenary fighting for the Pharaoh Necho II, who knows? Or he could have been a Greek pirate/trader, which was a common practice at that time as well.

On a side note, this is a helmet in the Corinth style, which was a common type of helmet worn by hoplites. They also wore these things tilted back on their head when not fighting, just so they could see well. But when they needed to battle at that moment, they would tilt the helmet forward and put it on correctly to start fighting again. Maybe the guy who owned this thing tilted the helmet back a little too far and it fell off into the drink? lol

The other interesting part about this is that Necho II was the guy that killed Josiah, the king of Judah of biblical fame. If this mercenary was a part of that effort, he more than likely was contracted to be on the naval flotilla that supported Necho’s campaign. (Judah was simply a speed bump for the big battles against the Assyrians)

Who knows and it is all speculation based on the dating of this artifact. The thing I look at is the history of the hoplite in ancient Greece and the societies that produced such incredible warriors back then. Sparta and the Battle of Thermopylae is one example of the type of hoplite forces that the various city-states of Greece produced.

Another famous Greek mercenary was Xenophon and his Ten Thousand– an assembled group of mercenary soldiers hired by Cyrus the Younger. Xenophon even wrote a book about this army and it’s campaign and epic journey called Anabasis. A very famous book that has been used to teach Socratic philosophy, military history of the time, leadership, and governance. It was also the basis to many other books and films, as well as the inspiration to such individuals as TE Lawrence.

I could go on about the numerous other Greek mercenaries and famous hoplites, but I will stop there. –Matt

 

Covered with gold leaf (now somewhat corroded), this 2,600-year-old bronze helmet was discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay, in Israel. The helmet would have been worn by a wealthy Greek mercenary leader. CREDIT: Photo courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.

Found: Ancient Warrior’s Helmet, Owner Unknown
By Owen Jarus
28 February 2012
A Greek bronze helmet, covered with gold leaf and decorated with snakes, lions and a peacock’s tail (or palmette), has been discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay in Israel. But how this helmet ended up at the bottom of the bay is a mystery.
The helmet dates back around 2,600 years and likely belonged to a wealthy Greek mercenary who took part in a series of wars, immortalized in the Bible, which ravaged the region at that time. Archaeologists believe that he likely fought for an Egyptian pharaoh named Necho II.
Dredging discovery
The helmet was discovered accidentally in 2007 during commercial dredging operations in the harbor. After it was discovered, conservators with the Israel Antiquities Authority went to work cleaning it and archaeologists began to analyze it.
They discovered that it is very similar to another helmet found in the 1950s near the Italian island of Giglio, about 1,500 miles (2,300 kilometers) away. That helmet has been dated to around 2,600 years ago, something which helped the researchers arrive at a date for the Haifa Bay helmet.

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Friday, November 25, 2011

Maritime Security: Greece To Allow Armed Guards On Cargo Ships Against Piracy

Filed under: Greece,Maritime Security — Tags: , , — Matt @ 1:00 PM

Good. It’s nice to finally see these countries wake up when it comes to what works. If armed guards on boats works, then a country needs to re-evaluate their view on the monopoly on the use of force and do what makes sense. Especially if a government has limited funds necessary to raise a navy to protect all of it’s flagged vessels and battle piracy.

So I wonder what country will change their position on armed guards on boats next? –Matt

 

Greece to allow armed guards on cargo ships against piracy
November 26, 2011
GREECE will let its large commercial fleet employ armed guards to ward against a surge in pirate attacks, the ministry in charge of security said, satisfying a long-standing shipowner demand.
“To improve safe sailing and crew safety aboard Greek ships crossing seas with increased piracy cases, an initiative has been taken to draft legislation for the embarkation of armed individuals on commercial ships,” the ministry said.
The legislation will enable the hiring of a minimum of six guards per ship on six-month contracts that can be renewed, a ministry source said.
The new arrangement will mainly apply to Greek-flagged ships but could be extended to vessels sailing through Greek waters, the source told AFP.
This modification will enable Greek-owned ships flying flags of convenience – around 500 vessels according to the union of Greek captains – to also be eligible.
Greek authorities had initially resisted shipowner calls to beef up security, a move opposed by crews fearing the presence of armed guards will ultimately only result in pirates switching to heavier weaponry to secure their prize.
“This measure threatens to set off an arms race with the pirates,” said George Tsouris, the head secretary of the Greek captains’ union, who has himself fallen victim to pirates on his voyages.

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