Part of Labour’s legacy is a police force that turned into a sieve, a force that had at its helm people who were either puppets or players. None of the police commissioners appointed by Labour showed much or any spine. They either acquiesced to whatever was in the interest of the powers that be or else left office.

While musical chairs were being played with the office of Police Commissioner, their honest officers were placed at risk by those dishonest, disloyal and unethical officers who thought it wise to leak information or to remain in touch with Castille or keep up a long-standing relationship with a business tycoon.

In all this, the police chief and his mini-chiefs were unable to ensure that suspected criminals did not receive sensitive information about investigations and were unable to weed out the bad officers.

To top that, under Lawrence Cutajar’s watch, former PM Joseph Muscat and his chief of staff were being briefed on a police investigation unnecessarily and against all demands of that level of independence which is required of all the police force.

The muck that the force has been placed in can only be cleaned by those who have no ties of dependency on the force itself or on political power

The failure of Cutajar to appreciate the level of independence that was required of him and consequently to retain a distance between the force’s investigation and the office of the prime minister fostered that sense of reverence towards the powerful which each police officer should never ever adopt.

Now we have it confirmed that it was not only Cutajar who revered the powerful but even his deputy commissioner Silvio Valletta. Some officers complained to me when I instituted the constitutional case for his removal from the investigation, saying that he was OK and brought in new resources to the force. Well, it seems that while he was trying to keep his subordinates happy, he was happily fooling around with one of Malta’s richest who is now a suspected assassin.

It is irrelevant whether Valletta knew or not that Yorgen Fenech was a person of interest. A deputy commissioner worth more than a penny knows it is highly risky to be deputy commissioner responsible for investigations, married to a cabinet minister and police officer on the FIAU and at the same time be an ‘uncle’ to a tycoon’s kids when that tycoon was chummy with Keith Schembri, and when Schembri was chief of staff of his wife’s boss. If all these ties did not raise alarm bells for Valletta, then he must be thick (which I doubt he is).

There is only one way forward for the force to regain people’s trust and that is to engage independent and impartial persons to investigate all those occupying high office within the force, to investigate the leaks and the lack of ethical and professional behaviour.

It is not for me to say who those independent persons ought to be, but the muck that the force has been placed in can only be cleaned by those who have no ties of dependency on the force itself or on political power.

Only this could start a process allowing the police force to regain people’s trust and allowing the honest officers to do their job professionally.  

Therese Comodini Cachia is the PN spokesperson for culture and media.