Book pays tribute to fallen policemen

A police officer has taken it upon himself to immortalise police officers who died in the line of duty by writing a book about them.

Superintendent Raymond Zammit, who joined the police corps in 1976 and is now studying criminology, said he wrote the book Tribute To Our Heroes "out of a sense of duty" to fellow officers.

"Whenever a policeman died in the line of duty, accidentally or otherwise, some details are recorded in the press. But writing a book is a different matter. You find out more things about them by speaking to their relatives. And a book survives longer than a press cutting," Supt Zammit said.

Supt Zammit, whose brother John died in an accident on December 29, 1990, knows what it means to lose someone near and dear all of a sudden.

"My brother was my witness at my wedding and he died in an accident on the anniversary of my wedding day, and on that fateful day we meant to go out for a drink together.

"The shock of losing a loved one suddenly is hard to take and from experience I knew it would be difficult to interview surviving relatives of policemen who had died in their line of duty.

"I knew it would be twice as tough in those cases where I knew the policemen personally as I would have to re-live those difficult moments myself as well. But I plucked up the courage and carried out the interviews," he said.

The book is divided into three sections. The first part speaks about the policemen slain on duty. Eight policemen were killed on duty from 1856 to 2001. Among them were Mark Farrugia, who was killed on March 20, 1999, and Roger Debattista who was shot in 2001.

"Writing about these two was particularly painful for me. I had spoken to Roger Debattista a mere 36 hours before he was killed and I had congratulated and encouraged him as he was sitting the exam for police sergeants.

"As for PC Mark Farrugia, I knew both him and Etienne Carter, who was convicted of his murder. Both were policemen and I taught them both at the police academy," Supt Zammit said.

Another section of the book deals with the eight policemen who died during WW II.

The final section deals with 12 policemen who died accidentally while on duty between 1876 and 1984.

"Again, there were a number of policemen I knew, such as Sgt Saviour Muscat and Joseph Hare, who died in an explosion on a patrol boat while fireworks were being disposed of, and police constable Paul Zammit, who died in an accident on the police shooting range," Supt Zammit said. "When Paul died, I was on injury leave because I had hurt my back in a judo session. And it was he who drove me home and promised to visit often. But destiny had other plans. He was hit by a bullet in a shooting session on December 10, 1983.

"Saviour Muscat and Joseph Hare died in September 7, 1984. Five soldiers died in the same explosion. Sgt Muscat's wife was a member of the police force. He was just 30. PC Hare was even younger," Supt Zammit said.

"I wanted to write the book as a tribute to my comrades. A policeman's job is not easy. Our oath of office is to serve the nation at all times. We are proud to do that. But in the book I wanted to highlight that at the end of the day, policemen are humans too," he said.