Dozens of policemen shut down the Qasr al-Nil police station on Thursday demanding better weapons and the dismissal of the interior minister, as protests and sit-ins against the Interior Ministry by police officers continued in a number of towns and cities.
Dozens of police officers protested in front of the Alexandria Security Directorate to denounce the policies of the Interior Minister.
They shut down the gate of the directorate building and held banners that read “Leave, Brotherhood minister” and “The police is in the service of the people, not killers.”
Major Mohamed Shahma, one of the officers protesting, said he wanted to “save the lives of officers, as well as their dignity, by clearly announcing the position of the state on [the issue of] the four officers who were abducted during the events of the revolution.”
Shahma also demanded the establishment of a high council for police to represent every rank in addition to fairer distribution of ministry resources.
In Media Production City in 6th of October, dozens of police officers staged a protest demanding a law to protect them from repeated attacks by anti-government protests. They also demanded that they be appointed to places of work near their residences and called for equal wages for police officers of all ranks.
Central Security Forces in the Suez Canal and Delta cities, which account for one-fifth of the CSF's overall forces, have continued their sit-ins and refused to carry out any of their normal activities.
The first of the CSF sit-ins began in the Delta city of Mansoura on Tuesday and spread to Canal cities on Wednesday, when CSF officers rejected orders to deploy to Port Said to provide back-up for security forces that began clashing with anti-government protesters on Sunday.
Members of the CSF and other security forces participating in the sit-ins say that they do not want to be involved in handling security incidents in Tahrir Square. They are calling for the Interior Ministry to steer clear of politics.
Meanwhile, the entire police force in charge of securing President Mohamed Morsy's home in Sharqiya refused to carry out its work on Thursday, saying its presence is only "nominal".
In North Sinai, senior security officials intervened on Thursday to end a strike by CSF members who had withdrawn from their positions to express solidarity with their colleagues in Port Said.
News had circulated that CSF members had withdrawn from their positions at stationary and mobile checkpoints in cities in North Sinai at 10 pm on Wednesday, one hour before their shifts normally end. The forces who were supposed to begin work at 11 pm also refused to go to their positions.
A security source in North Sinai denied news that security forces withdrew from their positions.
In response to the strike action, the Interior Ministry has requested reinforcements from Upper Egypt to meet shortages in some Nile Delta and canal governorates, security sources said.
The sources, which asked to remain anonymous, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that personnel had refused to secure Port Said, Ismailia and Suez Governorates unless they were properly equipped and protected from persecution.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
