Police officer unions and associations are holding a walk in solidarity with members of the police corps today.

President of the Police Officers Union (POU GWU) Sandro Camilleri urged members of the public to join police officers and their families in the march which started at St George’s Square, ending in front of Parliament.

The walk is organised by the POU GWU, the Malta Police Association (MPA) and the Malta Association of Retired Police Officers (MARPO). Taking part are president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Speaker Anglu Farrugia, Opposition Leader Adrian Delia, Home Minister Michael Farrugia, Partit Demokratiku MP Godfrey Farrugia and Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat waited for the participants near the Parliament building.

The march was called following an incident in which a traffic policeman, Simon Schembri, was seriously injured when an unlicensed teenager drove off after the officer stopped him to check his documents on May 15.

The incident took place at 7.40am in the road leading from Qormi to Luqa. The driver of the vehicle that hit the officer, who is only 17 years old, kept on driving away from the scene. The officer was dragged by the vehicle for several metres.

The teenager, Liam Debono, was charged in court and pleaded not guilty to a plethora of charges.

Following the incident, Magistrate Joe Mifsud remanded in custody two men and a woman who expressed satisfaction on Facebook at the running over of a policeman.

In comments to the media, police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar said that although the majority of people showed respect towards officers, there was a growing trend of disrespect towards the force.

He said he has been working as a police officer for 40 years, 32 of which in the community, and he noticed a generational change. The difficulties being faced by police officers in the carrying out of their duties have increased over the years, he said.

Police officers are the target of both physical and mental violence, he said, but they continue to carry out their work diligently as one can see from the news every day.

Lawrence Cutajar Police March MAY 18 from The Malta Independent on Vimeo.

Photos/video Domenic Aquilina