150 police undergoing disciplinary proceedings were given an amnesty by the new police Commissioner.

Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit told the media about this amnesty during an event held this afternoon to mark his first three months in office.

He said that the disciplinary proceedings related to charges of a “minor nature,” such as turning up late for work or failing to shave.

He said that these proceedings fall under the Police Act, and are not related to more serious proceedings requiring intervention by the Public Service Commission.

On the 224 transfers within the police corp, Mr Zammit said that these transfers had taken place in order to “better utilise peoples’ qualifications," in what the Commissioner said is all part of a process of modernisation.

22 former officials are going to be reinstated into the police force during a short ceremony to be held tomorrow, reserve constables are also going to be employed in the future.

Mr Zammit said that the newly established rapid intervention unit aims to be at the scene of an incident within three minutes. Currently, he said the unit’s response time is hovering around the five minute barrier. 

The Commissioner expressed his disgust at the member of the police corp who took a photo of a migrant baby asleep on the floor of the police HQ yard last week.

The person who took the photo has not yet been indentified he said, but Mr Zammit was unhappy that the officer in question did not taken any action to assist the baby.

He contrasted this with the recent case of an officer taking action to help a baby mistakenly locked in a parked car.

The Commissioner took the opportunity to commend Officer Michael Farrugia on his actions.

He also took thanked officers Dunstan Camilleri, Norman Xuereb and Simon Schembri, for their actions in helping a pregnant woman get to hospital during rush hour traffic last month.

Mr Zammit highlighted that Malta’s sister island has not been forgotten. Previously, the Gozitan criminal investigations department was manned by all of one officer. A further eight have now been assigned to this department.

He said that to date, there have been 17 drug hauls in Gozo, with the major part of the cases being related to drug trafficking.

On the topic of migration, Mr Zammit said that “he is not going to allow any protest that does not conform with the law. He vehemently stated that any “discrimination is wrong and will not be permitted.”

Mr Zammit said that the “finishing touches” are being applied to the new police academy in Ta’ Kandja. The changes will not merely be cosmetic, as a new academy training board has been set up, and revisions are going to be made to the training process.

Asked whether there are any developments with regards to the two unsolved murders that took place this year, Mr Zammit said that there have been some developments but he could not divulge them as yet.