The police are currently taking “tough decisions” as they probe alleged overtime abuse by the traffic squad, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Thursday.
Speaking during a meeting with the UĦM Voice of the Workers at Castille, Dr Abela was adamant that the police were carrying out work free from any form of “political interference”.
“The force did what it had to do. There will also be no political interference when it comes to choosing a new police commissioner,” Dr Abela said.
He was speaking amid an internal police investigation into an overtime racket allegedly involving more than half of the traffic squad. Journalists were only invited to cover the first few minutes of the meeting.
On Thursday, the police confirmed that, so far, 40 officers had been arrested in connection with the alleged scam, 25 of whom had been granted police bail.
In many of the cases reviewed the abuse constituted dereliction of duty, which was a criminal offence.
“We have a situation where the force is investigating its own members which shows there is integrity in the way it operates.
“But there is still more that needs to be done and I am now looking forward to having a new way of appointing a new commissioner,” Dr Abela said.
On this, the prime minister said there was one thing he wanted to make clear: “There will not be any political interference. The only thing I want is that the person chosen has integrity and that he or she is allowed to carry out their duties.”
In January, Police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar resigned after being in the job for three-and-a-half years. During this time, the former commissioner faced a barrage of criticism about the police force’s failure to investigate top government officials or follow up on financial crime reports submitted to it by the FIAU.
His resignation came just days after Dr Abela took over as prime minister. A few days later, Mr Cutajar was employed by the Home Affairs Ministry as a consultant on public safety and logistics.
During his campaign to become Labour leader, Dr Abela had repeatedly stated he would remove Mr Cutajar if he was to be elected.