Independent police board already exists

The Commissioner of Police would like to exercise his right of reply to the leader which appeared on Saturday, August 16, under the title Cock-Up, Conspiracy Or Cover-Up?

Although the Police Department respects the rights of a free press to express its opinion and recognises its pivotal role in a healthy democracy, nevertheless, it feels that democracy would be ill-served if the public is fed with information which is inaccurate. This is so with reference to certain points that The Times has reported on the arrest warrant of Harry Vassallo, the then leader of Alternattiva Demokratika.

In the article it was stated that an "internal policy inquiry" had just exonerated the police of any wrongdoing in the case. This may have given readers the impression that this inquiry, being internal in nature, may have been conducted by the suspected officers' fellow peers with the inevitable outcome of a final report reeking of bias thus triggering Juvenal's much quoted question, "quis custodiet ipsos custodiet?" (who shall guard the guardians?). This is totally inaccurate and requires immediate clarification.

It is to be pointed out that it was the Police Board who investigated Dr Vassallo's case and this upon being invited to do so, in favour of more transparency, by the Commissioner himself. The Police Board, an independent external mechanism created by law in terms of Title V, sections 48 to 60 of the Police Act, Chapter 164 of the Laws of Malta, is not in any way connected to the Police Force. The rationale behind its creation was to ensure that the police do not insulate themselves from public scrutiny as the Board is composed of persons entirely from outside the Corps and is chaired by a retired judge. Today, the Police Board substitutes the role of the Ombudsman on any complaint related to the police.

This means that, through this Board, representatives of the general public can actually monitor the workings of the Police Force. The Board's reports on its workings are finally presented to the Commissioner of Police, the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs as well as to the Social Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. In some cases, its reports may also be referred to the Attorney General.

Thus, what The Times is proposing, i.e. an independent police complaints commission, has been in existence for the past six years, headed by former Judge Franco Depasquale.

In our opinion, the fact that three entirely independent entities from the Force, i.e. the Police Board, the Inquiring Magistrate and Judge Albert Manchè have exonerated the police from any wrongdoing both in the Harry Vassallo and Nicholas Azzopardi cases maintain, indeed may I humbly say, increase public trust in the Police Corps and continues to strengthen the credibility of the institution by ruling out what the article seems to imply.

It is our considered opinion that it would have been more appropriate to check all the factual information first prior to putting pen to paper. Perhaps this would have rendered judgment more accurate.