Updated 5.45 pm
Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà believes the criticism he faces is “all personal” and has been in the works since he first assumed office four years ago.
But the top cop says critics are in a distinct minority and that data shows that the vast majority of the population trusts the police force he leads.
In an interview on RTK103 on Saturday, Gafà said it was just “Repubblika and its allies” that seemed intent on slamming his every move – something he believes goes beyond dissatisfaction with his job as police chief.
“This is all personal,” he said. “I’ve grown a thicker skin and now I’ve gotten used to having to work with this sort of intimidation.”
He cited protesters holding up images of him behind bars, telling radio show host Andrew Azzopardi “my five-year-old comes home and asks his mum ‘Is daddy going to jail?’ He doesn’t even know what jail is.”
Gafà was confirmed as police commissioner for a second term last month – something the Nationalist Party criticised. The PN has proposed an alternative appointment method which would require commissioners to obtain a two-thirds majority vote in parliament to be appointed or dismissed.
Gafà noted that the PN seemed intent on opposing him from the very outset of his period as commissioner, noting that the Opposition had failed to attend a parliamentary grilling he faced back in 2020, ahead of his appointment.
“I don’t know why,” he said on Saturday as he emphasised the fact that he was selected following a public call.
“In many other countries, police commissioners are still handpicked [by politicians],” he said.
He was at pains to note that trust surveys, including the EU’s Eurobarometer, showed that trust in the police force was higher than in any other public institution, including political parties and the media.
“When I meet ambassadors and third party missions, they always say they wish the police in their country enjoyed the legitimacy that our corps does,” he said.
Pilatus inquiry ‘was just 17 pages long’
Gafà was questioned about a police decision to hold off prosecuting former Pilatus Bank officials, despite a magisterial inquiry into the now-shuttered bank recommending criminal action against them.
That decision drew strident criticism from Repubblika, which instituted court action to have it reversed.
Gafà argued that officers in that case took the right decision, due to a dearth of evidence concerning those former officials.
While a magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospitals scandal was 1,200 pages long and included “100 pages of orders to the police and attorney general to prosecute various people”, the same could not be said about the Pilatus inquiry, he said.
The latter, Gafà revealed, “was just 17 pages long” and contained “one paragraph advising prosecutions”.
“That inquiry didn’t even establish the bank’s name,” he said as he defended the police’s decision to not prosecute.
Gafà acknowledged that the police does not have a “blank cheque” to operate but said that the force has some “extremely good” officers with skillsets that have improved significantly thanks to having worked alongside high-level experts on complex cases.
But financial crimes are constantly evolving, he said, and law enforcement faces a constant battle to keep up.
Gafà, who prior to serving as Commissioner spent a term as the police force’s CEO, said he had never agreed with that job title – “it’s like having two captains,” he said – and that the function of CEO was now incorporated into that of one of the police force's director-generals.
Asked about claims by Roger Agius that police did not want to hear what has to say, Gafà said that was technically incorrect as the police needed the court's go-ahead to speak to Agius, given that he is facing criminal charges.
Agius, a former ministerial driver, is alleged to have played a key role in a disability benefit racket that went on for years. He claims the racket's real hidden hands are being protected.
The police commissioner also declined to comment on allegations made by lawyer and former MP Jason Azzopardi that thousands of ID cards were falsified, saying the issue was the subject of an ongoing investigation.
The police commissioner made his personal views clear, though.
“Social media is full of misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “Some people share falsehoods without knowing it, and some do so intentionally.”
‘Peaceful protest is not intimidation’
In reply to Gafa’s interview on Saturday, civil society group Repubblika said in a statement that “peaceful protest is not intimidation”.
“If Angelo Gafa were doing his job he would show that he isn’t letting criminals, be they murderers rapists, thieves, fraudsters and corrupt politicians, intimidate him,” they said.
However, Gafa, they said, is not doing his job right and is bothered that honest citizens aren’t afraid to remind him to do his duty.