A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Police Force and Transport Malta, with the ultimate aim of this being to formalise the collaboration across various areas that there is between the two entities.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia said that it is important to understand that criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated, and that the authorities must remain updated with all the present-day technology.

He took note of a recent landmark court case overseas with regards to facial recognition, and said that it was decided that investigators must utilise technology to stay up to date with the times, but must do so in such a way where privacy and its use to fight criminality is balanced out.  He said that this balance would be sought in Malta.

Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar lamented that the days where one can recognise a person because "everyone knows everyone" in Malta were over, and that the necessary advances in technology must therefore be made.  He said that intelligence-led policing is the future, and noted that recent Information Technology advances have pushed this concept further as of late.

He said that this MoU will lead to technology which is common to both authorities being shared, which will help reduce bureaucracy that can affect investigations due to its time consuming nature.

Transport Minister Ian Borg said that the MoU would formalise the coordination that already occurs between the Police and Transport Malta, noting that the latter had already received 100 requests from the Police in relation to criminal investigations.

He said that for the sake of people's safety, collaboration was key and noted that different entities should not work as "silos", but must work together.