Greece; fear and violence on the rise

Violence and fear are on the rise in Greece, according to the police's emergency service, which has observed a sharp spike in the number of calls to report acts of verbal or physical violence in the January-to-September period. ''We have seen a rise in violent behavior, both physical and verbal,'' 100 emergency hotline operator Sofia Papingioti told daily Kathimerini. ''It is clear that citizens are losing their patience, they are becoming more abrupt and are more ready for a fight.'' In the first nine months of 2012, the 100 hotline had already received 894,000 calls from Attica alone, with the majority coming from Athens and Piraeus. The average for each of the previous three years was at around 1 million. Papingioti also noted that the service receives a lot more calls over ''suspicious figures'' or ringing car and homes alarms, indicating a high level of fear among citizens. The most calls are made on Fridays and are mainly in regard to alcohol-related altercations.