The police are back in the news with yet another story about blatant abuse on several counts. The way the victim - Karl Baldacchino - has reported matters to the newspapers (and to the police themselves), he was at a strip club when he saw a police sergeant, in uniform, drinking at the bar. His reaction was to bring out his phone and take a photograph. He had every right to do that, and in this age of citizen journalism, when people armed with smart phones are able to take pictures of abuse as it happens, there and then, and send those pictures to news sites or upload them on social media, you could say that they even have a duty to do so. For how else would these things be uncovered and dealt with by those responsible?

There you already have three counts of wrong-doing: the sergeant was in a strip club when police officers are not supposed to go to such places; he was in uniform at the time; he was drinking while on duty. There may have been a fourth count that we don't know about: the drinks were given to him for free in exchange for turning a blind eye to this or that.

The police sergeant reacted to having his photograph taken by rounding on Baldacchino after first having called for (uniformed) reinforcements - other policemen on duty. They surrounded Baldacchino and the sergeant grabbed him by the neck, demanding that he hand over his phone. Right there you have another three counts of abuse: he called for reinforcements to help him not in the prevention of a crime or in dealing with one, but to sort out a private matter involving him personally; he assaulted a citizen; he demanded that this citizen hand over his personal property.

When Baldacchino refused to hand over his phone, the sergeant and his colleagues demanded that he delete the picture he had taken. At this point, any doubt that his colleagues might not have known that the situation was abusive are dispelled. Even if the sergeant had not told them the truth earlier, they would now have known that the picture Baldacchino had taken was of their sergeant. They would also have known that he had every right to do that, and that the reason their sergeant did not want his picture taken was because he had been up to no good himself. So add in another count of abuse - asking a citizen to delete a perfectly legitimate photograph on his phone - and multiply it by the number of police officers involved, which is unclear at this stage.

Karl Baldacchino refused, as he should indeed have done. You have to know your rights in these situations and stand up for yourself. The police officers reacted by seizing hold of him and literally hauling him out of the club then throwing him into the back of a police van. Another two counts of abuse right there, again multiplied by the number of officers involved. His phone was wrested from him (add in more abuse) and then returned to him without the memory card (theft).

While this was going on, one of the sergeant's colleagues issued threats to Baldacchino (more abuse) and asked him whether he was afraid that they would find child porn among his pictures. He might have said this only because this sort of policeman doesn't understand what a citizen's rights are or what constitutes police abuse, and might actually believe that a police uniform gives individuals such as he the power and the right to demand things of individuals. And so he might not have been able to understand why Baldacchino refused to hand over his phone, unless it was because he had something on it which he wished to hide from the police. But if that is not the case, then this is very serious abuse: the police trying to frame a citizen in retaliation for exposing police wrong-doing, by planting incriminating material on him. This is what Baldacchino himself was afraid of, and he specified it when filing a formal complaint with the police.

The sergeant compounded his many counts of abuse by yelling at Baldacchino and telling him that he was "afraid of nobody" and that he would "pay him back". He swore, blasphemed and used "vulgar language", and - this would be 'Little Malta' hilarious if it were not so problematic - challenged him to see him at the San Gwann Bocci Club when he, the sergeant, is not on duty. This is incredibly abusive.

The new Police Commissioner has said that his men are investigating the case and that the investigation began immediately the report was filed on Boxing Day, the night when it happened. "We will not cover up for anybody, not even a millimetre," he said. While that might sound very odd to anybody who doesn't live here in Malta and who has missed out completely on the goings-on that followed the shooting on 19 November, it makes sense in this context. It also highlights how public trust in the police force has been eroded. We expect the police to cover up for each other and to behave badly. The way to counter that, however, is for all of us to do what Karl Baldacchino did in the face of police abuse: take pictures, report them, and above all, stand up for our rights. We might pay a price for that in terms of police harassment while it is happening, but it is all done for the greater good. The situation cannot be allowed to go on as it is.