The new commissioner of police, Angelo Gafà, has acknowledged that it was going to be hard to regain people’s trust in the force but said the changes he had already started to put in place would go a long way to restoring that confidence.

“We need to improve people’s perception of the police and their trust in what we do,” he said in an interview.

“Our work can only be effective if people trust us and come forward with information. It is a reality that we have to face. Trust will be restored when the public sees better results.

“We’ve seen the major crimes unit solving a murder in recent days and we’re achieving great results in the drugs sector too. We are achieving results. Maybe these were not seen by people. It will take time but it will be regained”.

He conceded that the force, composed of 2,400 officers, needed to build a closer relationship with the media to get its message across on its work, explaining how the pilot project of community policing in Mellieħa has been extended because studies showed it had yielded positive results.

By having more police patrolling the streets, people felt safer and this was a way to deter crime.

Police overtime scandal

One scandal which has dented the reputation of the police force was the alleged abuse in overtime and extra duties, for which officers allegedly got paid for extra duties they had not performed.

During his grilling in parliament prior to his appointment, Gafà had said that while occupying the role of chief executive, he had investigated the alleged wrongdoing and had drawn up a report with his conclusions and recommendations, but his superiors at the time had told him not to rock the boat.

Just weeks into his new role, he said he was now implementing his main recommendation of having one centralised office which was responsible for police extra duties, doing away with the previous system where these duties were managed by the individual police districts.

Our work can only be effective if people trust us and come forward with information

“I could see that the system we were using could lead to abuses so I had suggested the centralisation of extra police duties provided as a service to third parties who request this service in officers’ free time. We already have a team which is working on switching this process to a centralised approach to curb abuses and improve accountability,” Gafa said.

The Internal Audit and Investigations Department within the Office of the Prime Minister had been brought on board to widen the investigation to other sections of the police force. The probe is still under way.

The commissioner said the police was also in the process of setting up its own internal audit office which would introduce an element of accountability across the entire force.

“These are control mechanisms which will ensure that our work is more effective and streamlined. Whoever made mistakes must pay the price, but these mechanisms will ensure that there are more controls in place,” he said.

Ethical code for officers

He admitted he was concerned by the close link revealed in court between former deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta and the alleged mastermind in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, Yorgen Fenech.

“I automatically worry and I will do my best for this not to happen again. Our work does not stop when you clock off from work. When you’re socialising, you are socialising within parameters that are limiting your life,” he said.

He explained how the police had recently introduced a new code of ethics for police officers, an anti-fraud and corruption policy and a new policy regulating what part-time jobs police officers can carry out.

The new code of ethics will also cover police officers’ behaviour on social media too.

He said he wanted a police force with a strategic vision. “The force needs to renew itself. It is long overdue but we’re there. In 2018, when I was CEO, I applied for EU funds to transform the police force and by September we’ll publish clear timelines for implementation.”

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