The Prime Minister has decided to appoint Michael Cassar as Police Commissioner in a bid to stop the rot that had set in over the years.
The state of affairs within the Police Corps did not come about overnight. Like gangrene, it set in at the extremities and slowly consumed the organism, right the way up to the top. This was very much in evidence in a cataclysmic culmination of events three weeks ago in Gżira.
Again, this is not something that happened overnight. Opposition MPs have spoken in parliament to say that people are beginning to fear the police, just as they did in the pre-1987 years. This is true. But things have been going wrong in the force for years. There were cases where several police inspectors were booted out of the force for allegedly meeting with criminals, using excessive force in drunken stupors while off-duty in Paceville, allegedly being criminal masterminds behind armed robberies... the list goes on and on.
Enter Michael Cassar. Mr Cassar is the epitome of a career police officer and is known for his self-discipline, correctness and his enforcement of that same code to all his charges. A very fine example of Mr Cassar's way of doing things is when he was mentioned by a magistrate in a libel case, where it was alleged that he had partaken in some informal drinks. As soon as the allegations were made, Mr Cassar promptly sent a written affidavit to the court to refute such claims outright. Such is the measure of the man.
Not all members of the Police Corps are bad apples. But in an interview with this newspaper which was published yesterday, Mr Cassar makes no attempts to play the situation down or gloss it over. He acknowledges that there are very real problems which need to be addressed immediately.
He has already said that he will not tolerate any political interference and will guard his autonomy fiercely. Another issue which Mr Cassar needs to address is that of restoring trust in the Police Corps. He dived into the deep end and gave a number of interviews to the press emphasising one crucial point. He is going to focus on honesty and aims to drive that quality all the way through the ranks. Mr Cassar needs a good team around him, and no doubt, he will find the right people to assist him in his mission to turn around the beleaguered Police Corps. He agrees with the idea of a CEO to handle the administrative side of the job and this will allow him to focus on discipline, respect for rank and above all else, giving a good service to the general public. Mr Cassar's reputation precedes him and we are confident that he will give his all and that he will succeed in restoring the reputation, morale, discipline and effectiveness of the Police Corps. This will not happen overnight and one cannot expect immediate results.
The man must be given time to carry out the major surgery that is needed.