I am returning to the subject of our Police Force following Evarist Saliba’s comment on my last contribution on the Police Force when he wrote that I had not given any solutions. Perhaps one does not realize that space is limited and technically as bloggers we are only meant to run up to 1000 or so words.

Be that as it may all those, who are stating that the problem with our police force is a question of PR, either wish to divert attention from the real problem within our police force or else they are not aware of the situation within the force.  Incidentally, nor is the suggestion that a three-quarter parliamentary majority would make the police force function at optimum. Far from it. What the police force needs are individuals who have made it through the ranks of the police force including those with a tertiary education. What the force needs are individuals the calibre of Jonathan Ferris. The message sent by the authorities in this case is that if one is honest and diligent, there is no place for him or her in FIAU! Unfortunately, the impression given is that there is no place for persons like Ferris in the force who upholds the rule of law over anything else.

Despite the disastrous publicity  that our police force has been receiving of late, the Corps is  still held in high esteem by the Maltese. At least, a survey published by The Sunday Times gives the Police Corps as one of the institutions in which the Maltese have faith. Therefore, if this survey is to act as our guideline, the problem is not one of PR, otherwise one would expect that the survey would have been negative. However, it would be wrong to state that there are no issues of malfunction. Indeed, these issues are becoming extremely pressing. I am sure that the faith the Maltese have in our police officers is the result of the work of individual policemen and policewomen who do their job with diligence. Unfortunately, many of these individuals fail to move up in the police ranks. It is this factor that is leading to a crisis. Despondency has now entered the Force.

Each administration tends to blame its predecessor for any malfunctioning. But after more than four years in government, the present administration should have had ample time to assume responsibility and realize that the issue is not solved by simply changing Commissioners - there has been quite a number who have come and gone lately – and improving some of the officers’ shifts is certainly not enough. Much more needs to be done at the heart of the entire system. At the end of the day, our police officers are by far more important than many hangers-on in other government establishments.  More importantly, the government should have learned from the mistakes made in the past and should neither be repeating them or compounding them. Instead, I feel that we enjoy wallowing in our past errors and shortcomings. Any minor changes are purely cosmetic for the benefit of ... ?

Since Independence, very little has been done to correct or eliminate the level of political interference in our Police Force. The impression that one gets is that it is still very high and has increased exponentially over the years.  

It is a legitimate right of the citizen to call for the removal of public officials but only when the reasons are justified and not motivated either by misinformation or by sheer animosity. Then and only then, is it not a mob rule. Citizens have a right to protest. Since we are in the EU, its Parliament too has a right to pass a motion of censorship against our public officials but only, as long as its spokesperson too has impeccable credentials and does not hide behind the freedom his position carries.  Unfortunately, with all the fracas surrounding us, what we are getting is that this is all about partisan politics which has nothing to do with any desire to have honest clarity for the good of our country.  

Unless interference with the Police Force is not put to a stop, no amount of PR communiques from Castile or inane proposals from the Opposition – in power for 25 years and did not do anything regarding this issue - or from Civil Society be of any use. Surely there must be members in the Corps with a proven track record  who are capable of being supra partes. Piecemeal appeasement is not the way of going about it. And roping a foreign individual who has not got a clue to our way of thinking will only add to the existing endemic malaise.

Our history teaches us that the worse time of our police force was when it was led by foreigners and not local commissioners. In 1930, the Governor enacted an ordinance known as the Reconstitution of the Office of the Commissioner of Police (Emergency) Ordinance by virtue of which he assumed the power to appoint more than one Commissioner. Immediately following this Ordinance, Colonel Gustav Brander, an Englishman, was appointed joint Commissioner.  When the Nationalist Party came into Government in 1932, its first act was to remove Brander from office.

I am referring to this  historical anecdote as it became extremely pertinent after Daphne’s brutal assassination. This murder has again exposed weaknesses in our police force and legal system. Unfortunately, in the European Parliamentary debate about the rule of law in Malta, only the Commissioner of Police was mentioned. There was no reference to anyone else. This debate has instigated some individuals to declare that the way forward now is for our police commissioner to be a foreign individual!  Personally, I do not believe that this is to be taken into consideration. Of course,  there is also a possibility to consider; those who are advocating this are already in cahoots with Brussels and have already earmarked somebody.  

Our police force had been historically modelled on the British one.  Scotland Yard is still one of the most respectable Police Forces in the world. The police recruits in the UK are frequently University graduates. Ironically, the first local Commissioner who seriously considered having graduates in the force was Lawrence Pullicino.

The controversy that has engulfed members of the Force following  comments made on Facebook by some of its members has focused attention on solely the content rather than the wording. The comments in Maltese are full of grammatical errors! In the past, police recruits were subjected to an examination on how to write a police report. I cannot understand how those writing on Facebook managed to pass the examination.

Some years ago, the present Speaker of the House of Representives, Angelo Farrugia, compiled an exhaustive report about the reforms needed within the Corps. He was a superintendent of police back then. The authorities concerned, including Government and the Opposition should consider having a look at these proposals which I assume have been preserved in the Police Archives. Many points made in that report are still valid today. One of the proposals was that the Police Commissioner should be a person who has come through the ranks  and  once appointed Commissioner, he should be completely independent of the political power of the day. These are certainly important proposals.

Furthermore, a two-thirds majority is unfeasible for it does not guarantee that the most trustworthy makes the grade. What the Police needs is a commissioner who does not report to the government of the day or any particular minister but either to Parliament or the President of the Republic. I think that we need to start thinking in these terms, if Malta wants to have an effective police force run by a commissioner of the police who has the trust and respect of all citizens.