POLICE & EMERGENCIES

The National Greek police (Elliniki Astynomia) have never been accused of being jolly nice chaps, though the police on Crete have a slightly less fearsome reputation. They too are not famous for their sense of humour though, and are less tolerant of, er, well of most things really, than their western European counterparts. An old Bob Dylan lyric.."the cops don't need you, and man they expect the same" rather sums up the situation. Fortunately Crete has tourist police, who as their name suggests exist to address the day to day needs of tourists, both in disputes with local business such as taxi drivers and taverna owners, and also to provide tourist information.They invariably speak some degree of English, are user friendly, and should definitely be your first port of call. They can be reached by telephone by dialling 171. Other useful numbers are printed below. Cretan people are generally very approachable and helpful, don't hesitate to ask for help should the need arise.

AMBULANCE................................166

FIRE SERVICE...............................199

FOREST FIRE REPORTING...........191

POLICE (emergency)........................100

TOURIST POLICE..........................171

OPERATOR (domestic)....................132

OPERATOR (international)................139

ELPA BREAKDOWN SERVICE.......104