Police officers hurt in major incidents normally receive financial assistance, but the same cannot be said for the hundreds of officers involved in smaller scuffles and accidents every year, the Malta Police Association has complained.

“When an officer gets badly hurt the State usually steps in to provide assistance, which is all very well. But, what about officers who suffer minor injuries every day? Or have their personal property damaged in the course of performing their duty? This is something that the police have to deal with constantly and no assistance is provided,” association general secretary Robert Vella said.

He told the Times of Malta that talks with the government over the need for adequate insurance for police had gone nowhere. As a result, officers were still unprotected while in uniform. 

“Why should it be the case, that if an officer suffers injuries or say has his sunglasses or mobile phone damaged while on duty, he should have to pay for this himself or chase the person involved in court to get some form of compensation?” Mr Vella, a police inspector, said.

The association is expected to be meeting with the government in the coming days to renew its calls for insurance cover.

The MPA has long been petitioning the government to help set up a comprehensive insurance scheme for police officers, and had even contacted a number of brokers back in 2015 to see how much this would cost. Asked why this had gone nowhere, the police inspector said providing insurance for police officers would be like opening Pandora’s proverbial box.

“The standard reply we get is that if this is done for police, then so many other departments will start asking for it. While that might be true, you can’t compare the risks faced by police officers with those faced by kindergarten teachers,” he said. 

The issue of police insurance was raised again in recent weeks after a 17-year-old was charged with the attempted murder of police constable Simon Schembri.

Mr Schembri, 48, suffered several critical injuries when he was involved in a hit-and-run incident in Luqa. 

A father of three had part of his arm amputated, suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs and pelvis, along with severe road burn. He is currently recovering and has been discharged from hospital. 

The police top brass and the government have agreed to offer financial assistance to Mr Schembri.

Meanwhile, government sources said attempts to secure insurance cover for police officers had already been explored by the government in the past, however, no deals were made with brokers due to “a lack of interest and realistic offers”.

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