Editorial: Bullies must not wear uniforms

Almost 30 years ago, John Kleinig, who specialises in police and criminal justice ethics, wrote that the police “protect us from the barbarian within”.

What surfaced recently in court is, therefore, very disturbing to society, when you realise that the ‘barbarian’ can also be within the police force itself.

The magistrates’ court ordered the detention of a police officer for two months after finding him guilty of slapping a kneeling and handcuffed 14-year-old boy across the face in Paceville. The policeman has now appealed his sentence.

Of course, this entertainment mecca has become renowned for shady, violent cowboys that frequent it. So, stout police officers asserting their authority to exercise discipline and ensure law and order are, therefore, not only tolerable but, indeed, required. However, the evidence produced in court – most of it consisting of footage from the bodycam policemen were carrying – paints a picture of a bully officer terrorising and hitting a teenager who was apologising and begging to call his mother.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech highlighted the seriousness of the matter when she described the officer as a “despicable character” who behaved like an aggressive and arrogant bully, ignoring the law and bringing the police force in disrepute.

This man in uniform was not only violent and brutal in his behaviour but also in the language he used, even if he knew full well he was being recorded.

“It is an insult to the corps, which embraces such strict and rigorous principles, to have within a person donning its uniform.

“Rather than dignifying that uniform, he besmirched it and blatantly abused of the powers afforded to him as a police officer,” the magistrate said. There can hardly be a more damning indictment to a person who swore to enforce the law.

Unfortunately, the police have so far refused to say whether they have suspended the officer or taken any disciplinary action against him.

Police officers are bound by their code of ethics not to “inflict, instigate or tolerate any form of torture or inhumane treatment whatever the circumstance”. It says officers “shall only resort to force in case of unavoidable necessity, proportionate to the risk, and to a degree, which is necessary in order to achieve a lawful goal”.

The law demands that the “use of force is a remedy of last resort and shall only be used for the duration that is strictly necessary when it is evident that all other remedies would be of no avail”. The teen was kneeling on the ground and handcuffed when the bully slapped him at least three times.

In line with the law, an officer charged with a serious offence can be dismissed, made to resign, demoted in rank or seniority or the rate of pay reduced.

Society does not know whether this was a one-off incident by the officer in question or whether he has a track record. If he does, the ‘silence’ by the police force in the wake of such harsh words by the court becomes all that more palpable.

Of course, we should avoid generalisations. One bad apple should never tarnish the reputation of the many police officers who serve with diligence and professionalism. All the more reason, then, for the police commissioner to take firm and appropriate action when incidents like this occur.

In his master’s degree dissertation in 2008 on the use of force by the police, Police Commissioner angelo Gafà argued that the police are there to protect society from crime but they must protect citizens’ rights at the same time. That is what society expects.