The police force is going through a process of renewal and change in culture that has helped Malta get off the grey list and brought down theft to the lowest level in 25 years, police commissioner Angelo Gafa said on Tuesday.

In a rare public appearance posted to social media on the 208th anniversary of the force's foundation, Gafa said people may have noticed the recently restored facade of the police headquarters in Floriana, but the process of renewal goes far deeper within the force.

"The transformation strategy we employed over the past two years is helping us adapt to an ever-changing world. We are especially training our officers to be good leaders and we have officers who are extraordinarily capable of making split-second decisions that save lives," he said, thanking all police officers for their hard work and effort to adapt to the new culture every step of the way in the speech.

"The statistics show that this strategy is working. This year, theft rates continued to go down and they are now the lowest they have been in 25 years.

"Domestic violence victims are increasingly gaining confidence in our professional and empathic services and they are increasingly coming to us for help.

"And our financial crime investigators played a crucial role in removing our country from the grey list in a short period of time."

He also lauded the force for strengthening relationships with international institutions such as Europol, which, he said, assisted the police in financial crime investigations.

A former investigator and police inspector who served as the corp's first CEO, Gafa was appointed Commissioner two years ago, succeeding Lawrence Cutajar, who stepped down after criticism of failing to investigate several allegations involving the government, claims which he denied.

But Gafa has had to endure his own share of criticism. NGO Repubblika has demanded his resignation last month after repeatedly calling him out for failing to prosecute Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri, Edward Scicluna and Chris Cardona and for not charging officers that were caught helping criminals from within the force, namely Silvio Valletta, Ian Abdilla, Ray Aquilina and Lawrence Cutajar.

Earlier in May, Gafa came under fire after Iosif Galea, a former gaming consultant who was under a European arrest warrant, was arrested while on holiday in Italy.

The arrest revealed that the police had failed to apprehend Galea in Malta and despite being subject to an arrest warrant, he was allowed to leave the country multiple times. An internal investigation within the police force is ongoing.

On top of that, the Force is failing to attract as many new recruits as it needs and some officers feel overworked and have demanded better salaries and working conditions.

Nonetheless, in Tuesday's video, Gafa was very optimistic.

"People can feel proud of our officers. We were never perfect and we never will be, but in the first months of this year, our officers have shown what they are capable of doing," he said, referring to the general election and the Pope's visit.

"We managed these two huge events with the least of problems, and they happened on two successive weekends. This was thanks to our officers' dedication and your cooperation as the public."

He pledged to keep protecting officers' wellbeing and to enhance the Force's services to become increasingly effective, efficient reliable and professional.

I have a lot of hope that day after day, we will continue to offer you the service you deserve as Maltese citizens. Thank you for your continued support," he said, ending with the police dorce motto, Domine Dirige Nos (God guide us).

Meanwhile, Archibishop Charles Scicluna also made reference to that motto during the sermon of the mass celebrated at St John Co-Cathedral on Tuesday morning.

He said the fight for justice, truth, order and all that is good is not simply a material or social one. It is also a spiritual battle for humanity to live according to what is right. And the enemy is not simply material or physical, but also spiritual.

"And so, I pray unto you, that you are protected from any deceit, fear or compromise with power," he told officers.

"I pray that you are freed from the attacks of our spiritual enemy."

The Malta Police Force was founded on July 12, 1814 and currently employs around 2,400 officers.