Traffic policemen are set to be kitted out with more robust crash helmets as well as bodycams.
A call for tenders for the crash helmets has been issued, a spokesperson for Ministry for Home Affairs told The Sunday Times of Malta.
The spokesperson also confirmed that traffic police will be equipped with bodycams in a pilot project that will be launched in the “near future”.
“We have long called for the police to be equipped with bodycams because they will reduce instances of confrontation,” said Theo Vella, a sergeant responsible for the disciplined forces within the General Workers Union.
“Sometimes the police have to use proportionate force against recalcitrant or confrontational individuals, and many times afterwards they face unjustified complaints of having used excessive force that are demoralising. On the other hand there are also instances of the police themselves being abusive.
“So bodycams are a safeguard against abuse by the police and abuse on them. The footage would provide undisputable proof of the events that took place.”
Bodycams are a safeguard against abuse by the police and abuse on them
Discussions on bodycams had been ongoing for considerable time but the horrendous hit-and-run incident involving traffic policeman Simon Schembri two weeks ago has injected urgency into the plans. Police Sergeant Vella said the incident has electrified the debate.
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The issue of protective wear was brought into even sharper relief after it emerged in court testimony that the horrific injuries suffered by PC Schembri, who was flipped onto the car’s bonnet in the hit and then dragged underneath the car for hundreds of metres, might have been worse if he hadn’t been wearing a better crash helmet and protective gear than the standard types supplied by the police. PC Schembri had bought the superior kit out of pocket.
Teenage driver Liam Debono has been charged with his attempted murder.
No OHSA oversight
The police, together with the civil protection corps and the army, are in a league of their own when it comes to work safety. That’s because the law on health and safety at work excludes these entities, and this has long rankled police officers.
“If we get substandard equipment that has a bearing on safety, we cannot report the matter to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority,” argued PS Vella.
The police unions are insisting that there should be no penny-pinching on protective kit for the police, that any tradeoff between quality and price can have consequences on life and limb. They are also calling for installing dashcams in police cars and an overhaul of the uniform.
“The current uniform is traditional and unwieldy,” explained the sergeant. “It is almost like a throwback to colonial times, and it is not comfortable, particularly in the summer.
Police officers sweat underneath their uniform in the summer heat. And if we want the police to be energetic and effective, we should at least ensure that they are wearing something that’s comfortable and suitable for our climate.”