Crane for the police

I heard a rather funny story. The police, some time back, installed a heavy iron gate, remotely controlled, on the side of the headquarters which faces the Income Tax Department. Stainless steel railings were also put in place to lead to a small reception room. The police yard would not allow any cars in or out unless there is the slow movement of the machinery which opens the massive structure.

I remember that place very well, when it was not in the hands of the police. The building was the Central Hospital, before St Luke's was opened as a general hospital. That archway was not unguarded in those times. Now there is really no saving, as someone has to operate the buttons to open the gate, in or out. Previously an officer would control the entrance.

It so happened, and it seems that it is happening not infrequently, that this massive gate sometimes decides not to move. As a government employee it does not need to exert itself at all times, and is entitled to leave and sick leave.

I heard that a crane had to be brought into the police yard to move the perfidious trap. There were vehicles that could not go out, and vehicles that could not go in. One would be rather at a loss how to define this legal situation. Is it an illegal arrest of the driver? Is it the exercise of a pretended right, the right being that of the gate to open or not to open?

More important

More important than the gate are the officers of the police force. Although we have a Maltese saying that no one wants a policeman at his doorstep, the police uniform generally engenders respect. This is also why it is taking so long for Ganni c-Cittadin (John Citizen who took up Maltese nationality) to get accustomed to other disciplinary uniforms and to show the same respect. Apart from the rainbow of colours of such other uniforms, ranging from chocolate to peppermint, law and order is mentally assigned to the police. No police force can be effective unless it has the support of the public. That support comes from trust and the belief that the police are doing their duties as best as they can, and so they should be given a helping hand.

The problem today is not that the public does not respect the police force, but that the officers of the corps are feeling that they are not being respected by their own internal system. I am not pointing my finger at a minister. The whole system is showing visible cracks.

If gates are meant to control vehicular traffic, sometimes there are other virtual gates which have a worse effect. I have seen police inspectors waiting and waiting in the shade of Strait Street, until an official car arrives to take them to their place of work after finishing their work in court. There has been some economising on transport, as this is a recurrent expenditure.

What does this mean? A police inspector cannot go to court in his private car and pay at the end of the month. When official transport, which is not readily available, fails to pick them up, expensive hours of work are lost, and the only benefit that the public receives from such wastage is that the corner of Strait Street with St Lucia Street is heavily and highly patrolled. Another similar pitiable spectacle is near the taxi stand at the corner of the Palace. That corner seems to be the haunt of the inspectors in the CID.

What is better - to have a gate or better transport for officers? A police force needs to be mobile, but it seems that the only thing mobile that the police have is their own private mobile phone, which I understand is privately funded, although it is used in connection with official work.

What is even worse

What is even worse is that the morale of the police force is at its lowest ebb. Police inspectors feel that they have very little space for their individual judgment, after an investigation. The trend seems to be that it is better to charge and let the courts decide rather than taking a decision at police level. In the case Attard vs Commissioner of Police the Constitutional Court censured a procedure whereby a person was arraigned under arrest by a police inspector who had been instructed to hold an identity parade and immediately haul the suspect to court. The police inspector was honest enough to state, under oath, that as far as he was concerned there was no case to answer.

The police officers who have a heavy burden on their shoulders are demoralised because they do not have the material support needed for their investigations and their work. There is loss of precious time and consequently unhappy long hours of work because the necessary infrastructure is lacking.

Indicative of this situation is the fact that the number of police inspectors resigning each month is phenomenal. This is especially so in the case of those who have not been long in the service, often highly schooled, but have no accumulated pension rights. Why are so many leaving?

I suspect that the crane in the yard is, after all, not for the treacherous gate. It is there in an attempt to raise the morale of the police force. Believe me, a bigger crane is needed.