Police and Fire Service Organisation and Duties (Οργάνωση και Καθήκοντα Αστυνομίας και Πυροσβεστικής)
What is tested
Structure, chain of command, legal basis and the division of labour between the two uniformed services - including who owns which task at a shared incident.
Cyprus Police
- Under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and headed by the Chief of Police (Αρχηγός Αστυνομίας).
- The Police Law (Cap. 285) sets out the duties: prevention and detection of crime, maintenance of public order, protection of life and property, traffic policing, immigration control, execution of court orders and protection of the state.
- Directorates and units cover uniformed/community policing, traffic, criminal investigation, drug enforcement, immigration, port and marine policing and specialist operations; district commands follow the six districts.
- Powers are not unlimited: arrest, detention, search and use of force need a legal basis and must be proportionate under the Constitution and the ECHR.
Cyprus Fire Service
- Also under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order; its legal basis is the Fire Service Law (Cap. 279) and the regulations made under it.
- Duties: firefighting, rescue of people trapped by fire, road collisions, collapses and water, hazardous-materials response, fire-safety inspections and the issue of fire-safety certificates, investigation of fire causes, and public education.
- It has no general police powers. Crews secure the incident scene and preserve evidence, but they do not investigate crime, arrest suspects or routinely direct traffic - they request police support.
Worked example
'A car overturns, the driver is trapped and fuel is spilling. Who does what?' Reasoning: the first crew requests the full package - ambulance, fire extrication team, police. Police cordon the road, manage traffic and preserve the scene for investigation; fire crews stabilise the vehicle, control ignition risk with a charged hose line and cut the casualty free; paramedics triage and treat. Command of the dominant hazard sits with the service that owns it until handover, but each service keeps its own statutory task. An answer saying 'the fire service investigates the collision' is wrong.
Traps that cost marks
- Describing the Fire Service as a branch of the Police or as answering to the Chief of Police.
- Naming the Ministry of Interior instead of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order.
- Suggesting police may search or detain a person without legal authority.
- Forgetting that collision investigation and traffic direction belong to the police, while extrication and fire safety belong to the fire service.