St. Julian’s, Marsa, and Hamrun are amongst the nine localities which will be added to Malta’s community policing scheme in the coming weeks to help residents feel more secure.

The extension of this community policing scheme was announced on Tuesday morning, when Home Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement Minister Byron Camilleri announced that community policing has been successful in a number of areas, noting the success of the pilot project in Mellieha two years ago.

The localities which will be added to the scheme are St. Julian’s, Kalkara, Hamrun, Cospicua, Vittoriosa, Senglea, Santa Venera, Marsa and Tarxien.

Camilleri said that each locality has different needs, and the police force will make it their duty to cater to these needs.

He said that progress with community policing is coming along well and that police have spent 9,500 hours on foot patrol from last October till now, when another 12 localities were added to the community policing team.

“The aim of community policing is to help residents feel more secure because if we want peace of mind, we need more collaboration between the police and the community”, he said.

Camilleri confirmed that resident are feeling more secure with the scheme in place and are building a better rapport with the police corps.

There are currently 56 police officers working in community policing and they are all focused on making their respective communities feel safe, he said.

Camilleri said that the scheme is working well in spite of the pandemic, as it is bringing residents, local councils and officers together in a shared community.

He also said that more localities will be added to community policy in the coming months. Among them, he said, will be St Paul’s Bay, which had the most reports of domestic abuse and theft in 2020.

He announced that community policing will only grow in importance in the years to come and, by 2023, he aims that all of Malta and Gozo will have community policing in place, in order that every locality feels protected.

Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa, who was also present, said that the scheme has enabled police to integrate further into society and build rapport with residents of their respective localities.

He also said that the police are making an effort to be more present on social media, since community is not only physical anymore, but also virtual.

Camilleri was asked by the press about the current status of the Police Officer’s Union (POU) industrial dispute, which the Union filed after the government denied giving police officers quarantine leave, unlike other government workers. He said that the government has met with the POU and they are both working together to reach common ground and “move in the right direction”.