The story of a police woman who posted a video of herself dancing, in uniform on social media platform TikTok has caused quite a stir here in Malta.

This video went viral after someone falsely linked the video to the police’s lack of action during last Monday’s Floriana FC celebrations at the Granaries in Floriana, which showed a complete disregard of social distancing measures.

The police had launched an investigation into the video and disciplinary proceedings were taken.

Indeed on Thursday, a petition addressed to the police was launched calling for no disciplinary action to be taken against her, “as she was simply trying to cheer people up in her video.” Over 3,400 individuals have signed it so far.

It is, of course, of the utmost importance that what the uniform represents be protected and respected, and the issue lies with the fact that she was wearing the uniform in the video. Here in Malta the reputation of the police has been severely damaged over recent years, mainly due to the lack of action – perceived or not -  taken when it comes to the big fish.

The Police Force have nobody to blame but themselves for the arguments being made about taking action against the small, but not against the big fish.

So while some kind of action should probably be taken against the officer in question it should not be disproportionate, especially given that it did not harm anybody else.

It can also be argued that the issue itself has been blown out of proportion a bit in terms of what the video actually was.

Another angle that needs to be raised is the reputational damage caused to the individual. Some media houses as well as unions have, along with articles or statements about the issue, continued to post the full video or photos which show the officer’s face.

Were it a serious situation of misconduct, or of an officer causing harm to others, this would likely be justified, however given that the video just shows the woman dancing, should her reputation continue to be tarnished in this manner? Yes she did post it online for people to see, and maybe to cheer people up, but the situation has now turned into a controversy and some reports read that the situation has caused her to enter a more vulnerable state, so should images showing her face continue to be shared? After all, the video itself did not harm others, so this newsroom took the decision not to show the officer’s face to protect her privacy.

It is right that the police take action to protect the uniform, but what it really needs to do is take a stand against the more powerful, do their job well, and not seem to favour those in power. That is the only way the Force will regain back the respect of the people.

The officer in the video made a mistake, a harmless one. Haven’t we all?