The Santa Luċija police station is being transformed into a hub for the Gender-based and Domestic Violence Unit.

The transformation will allow the unit to move out of police headquarters, where it is currently based, and instead operate from its own centre. 

Victims of gender-based or domestic violence will be welcomed at the hub, which aside from police officers will also be staffed by social workers, the police said in a statement. 

The unit now features 48 officers in its complement and there is an open call for more officers to join.

In a statement, the police said they recently updated their internal standard operating procedure guidelines on domestic and gender violence, in line with recommendations made in the Geoffrey Valenzia inquiry on domestic violence.

The guidelines focus on police officers' responsibilities when responding to calls or speaking to victims, guide officers on their role when dealing with temporary protection and protection orders and touch upon specialised training given to officers.

Valenzia's inquiry was sparked by the murder of Bernice Cassar, a mother-of-two who was killed on a public road in broad daylight. Her estranged husband stands charged with her murder. 

Cassar had sought to report her husband for breaching a protection order and threatening her, but police kept her waiting for hours on end and she left without filing a report. She was killed a week later.

The Valenzia inquiry was a damning one, concluding that "in practice, nothing is done and things just keep going even though it is known that the system is not working… There are many proposals, but the implementation is lacking.”

Correction May 10, 2023: A previous version misstated the number of new recruits added to the unit.