Recent weeks have not been easy on the Police Corps: Allegations of serious misconduct have surfaced about a number of officers, some at a high level, and although these individuals are now undergoing procedures, the cumulative impact of many cases all surfacing at the same time must have undermined trust in the force.

Apart from these cases, one has only to venture inside any police station to notice that things have not changed at all for many decades – there is still the same shabby environment, the same attitude by the officers with regards to their work, to each other and to the members of the public, as far as one can see.

If one goes to court on any morning of the week, one might think the entire police force is all concentrated there. The well-meaning proposal to hive off court work on to a special section so as to allow the rest of the force time to do ‘real’ police work does not seem to have had any effect.

For all its shiny cars (the force is male-dominated even in this aspect), the force is seriously starved of funds. The recent story in the press that the corps does not have enough taser-guns to cover most eventualities - so much so that a policeman who came across an immigrant running at him with a long knife and with cliffs at the policeman’s back, was forced to shoot him - is a case in point. For the price of a small car, the entire corps would be well-equipped with taser guns for any eventuality, but that is not the case, so far.

It is not just through familiarity with television series on foreign stations, or through crime novels, but through observing what goes on in Malta that leads one to conclude that the dearth of proper capital investment goes far beyond the lack of proper refurbishment of police stations or the lack of taser guns. This society is one that is daily becoming more and more complex and to police it requires instruments of increasing complexity. From investigating what was largely petty crime or crimes of passion, police work is now required to investigate internet crime, complex financial crime, domestic violence, child abuse, cruelty to animals and much, much more. Today, too, investigative work no longer relies on interrogation of suspects and relies more on scientifically sophisticated investigative tools such as DNA, etc.

Although, as said, much more needs to be done to free more police officers from humdrum court attendance to do proper police work, especially being visible on the streets, which matters

It would also seem that the number of officers manning the force should be increased to cope with an increasing population as well as the increased numbers of tourists who augment the numbers in the summer months. What was the accepted police force manning level some years ago may be insufficient today.

Finally, it would seem that the Police Corps seriously needs to learn and copy the procedures used abroad - especially the British one since this is probably the best example there is, for all its faults and deficiences, as well as being the source of most of the force’s procedures from time immemorial. Many other sectors that service the country, from doctors to bus drivers, have grown and improved through their connections and learning from their foreign counterparts. The Police Corps, on the contrary, strikes as being among the most insular service providers on the island. And it increasingly shows.