vehicle of the Cities Police in Athens, 1973 in central Athens, early 1950s , early 1950s Its creation was decreed in 1918 (Article 12 of the Law 1370/1918
On the organization of the Gendarmerie) and confirmed in 1920 (Law 2461/1920). The force became operational in the city of
Corfu in 1920, followed by
Patras (1921),
Piraeus (1923) and
Athens (1929). Remarkably, in
Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, the force was not established due to the Gendarmerie's opposition, despite the law's provisions. Unlike the paramilitary Gendarmerie, which had close ties to the
Hellenic Army and was commanded by Army generals, the Cities Police was a purely civilian force, modeled after the
Metropolitan Police of
London, and with training provided by a British mission under Sir
Frederick Loch Halliday. From the late 1920s, the Cities Police, and especially its feared General Security Directorate, initiated the state persecution of the nascent
Communist Party of Greece (KKE), whose popularity was growing among the urban poor, the working classes and the destitute
refugees from Asia Minor. In the aftermath of the
Greek Civil War, the Gendarmerie and the Cities Police became bastions of the conservative and vehemently anti-Communist establishment, a role they would retain throughout the
Greek junta of 1967–74. After the
fall of the junta, emphasis was placed on civilian policing. Despite strong opposition from the Gendarmerie and the Cities Police, both forces were amalgamated on 1 November 1984 (Law 1481/1-10-1984) into the unified
Hellenic Police. == Ranks insignia ==