Policemen must not be 'ticket vending machines' - MLP

Again - few blue Joe Vellas trying to misinterpret the article in order to give some support to the government. Their serious problem with partisanship matters is making everybody here sick!

@ L. Galea

So by your reasoning the attitude should be is go on continue to litter, as much as one can, cause the consequnece of being caught is to be asked to pick it up.

What Dr. Michael Falzon was saying is not that it was not right to issue fines to people who are littering the country. Imposing quotas to policemen will reduce the whole exercise to issuing of tickets rather than to spend their valuable time trying to device schemes where they can actually find the real big culprits.

Have anyone noticed the amount of plasitc bottles, cigarette butts and other stuff is found right beside traffic lights around the island

With due respect to the MLP spokesman, the time to educate is long past. What is needed is enforcement. That is their job. I am sick and disgusted at the number of times I witnessed policemen completely ignoring infringementsof the law committed right in front of their eyes. The classical one being the black smoke belching vehicles. I never reported anyone on a matter of principle. If law enforcers just look the otherer way, why should I do their job. The citizen's contribution should complement the policeman's job not replace it.

Yet another OIM (Only In Malta)....some things are just ridiculous!

@ Mr Sapiano, I dont agree about raising the fine. Not everyone is as 'Wealthy' as you maybe! So, speak for yourself please.

Why aren't these superiors exposed? The litter act has been in force for years now. The education period is definately over. The only way WE learn (and yes that includes me) is if we are fined. The police officers ( as i am related to a few) are asked to enforce and not to look the other way even for a small cigarette butt is thrown away. I agree with this enforcement, do you remember the seatbelt issue, same thing happened.

What I do not agree with Dr Falzon (I have a great respect for this man) is comparing officers doing their duty to "ticket vending machines".

Dr.Falzon made a mistake - a grave mistake. The opposition lacks seriousness when criticising such a good Government move. Many Maltese lack civic responsibility. I would even increase the fine cause I think it's low.

Policemen should issue more tickets to people whose drive carelessly , to cars that do not have brake lights & polute our air... The number of vehicles without brakelights that i have seen in the past few days is beyond beleif. These cause accidents.

I do not agree on having to issue numerous tickets for littering or else the policemen get punished. On what planet are we living on ??

Do you want the police officers to enforce the law or do you want anarchy? It seems that the MLP has the ears of some lazy officers who constantly thunder in the MLP's ears what THEY SHOULD BE DOING BY RIGHT. Enforce the law. But no, these lazy creatures opt to tell the opposition that they are being FORCED to give tickets. No wonder there is absolutely no enforcement on this tiny tot of an island. No one wants the police on his doorstep.

I agree that no one is to be FORCED to 'dish out' fines, but, how long are we going to try and educate people? So by this reasoning most of the Maltese people are ignorant and needs basic teachings. We use to say that Traffic Policemen should educate drivers, Wardens should do so as well, etc. , so, when are we going to learn? Personally, I and many other thousands do not litter, do not drive around in dangerious manners, etc. Therefore I think that 'the educate people' system is now over, as some never want to listen, [not learn] and abide with our Country's Laws.

The issue at hand is that of a set number for policemen. This is not totally wrong in itself but not totally right either. If one had to assess whether policemen do their work or not based on the number of tickets issued, this would be a joke.

It's not possible to issue tickets for some of the policemen whose jobs are at a desk (example: orderlies who do more like the work of a receptionist) at police stations, whilst at the same time you would expect more from policemen who are on constant general beat (Mobile Squad are not employed for this purpose). What's the rela number of policemen on the beat?

Is this a case where the wardens are not being employed because they cost too much for cash starved councils, or councils who have other priorities, and thus we want the Police to take over the job again?


On an organisation level, or else on the holistic area of law enforcement in all different areas that affect the general public, what is needed is a national study to assess the situation and way forward. We have stagnant systems of law enforcement, which simply are not working.

Everthing has to be evaluated in its proper context, in this case I think that the police were ordered to issue fines, not because they have to reach a predefined amount of tickes, but because they aren't issueing any at all.

I am sure that taken in this context even Dr.Falzon would agree that a push is need for the police to start applying the law.

In which part of Malta do you refer to when you say that no littering is done? Littering is done all over Malta, just open your eyes.
How long are we going to educate people. I've been hearing this for over 20 years. It's time action is taken.

Pamela Hansen
While I certainly agree that no one should litter, the police are there to prevent infringement of the laws, not to let the law be infringed and then issue a contravention ticket.

In other words, they should warn the person not to throw away the cigarette butts and if he did to pick it up. Only if he refuses would the police be right in issuing the ticket.

Also, the police should be employed in more serious business than being given a quota to issue fines to those who throw away a cigarette butt.

Dear Pamela
I am the journalist who wrote the article on l-orizzont. and as Mr Pierre Muscat said you missed the whole point. What we published on l-orizzont and what Dr Falzon is saying is not that the Police should sit and do nothing. The point is that the policemen are being FORCED to issue tickets and also to make written statements on how many tickets they issued. And this order is in writing on the detail forms. How can a Police Constable whose duty is to drive his superiors around, issue tickets? The people in the street should be educated first and not teach them a lesson by fining them a hefty fine. And worse of all is to fine the policemen if they don't find enough bad guys. Pam as colleague - I ask you to reconsider what you said cos you are much smarter....I know.

The police should not be a vending machine because of a quota imposed on them. Tthey should have the discretion to educate when minor offences occur. My fear is that when a quota is imposed some will do anything to reach it. Even the innocent will suffer as they would reason...let the court decide. On the other hand, quota or no quota they are obliged by law to take action when there is a breach of any law. The quota also shows the state of misery the police are in because the only way to motivate them to work is to threaten them. That is what I call managing your human potential.

The force lacks proper administration to carry out such tasks. The displays and other funfares which is a characteristic of these last years, do not serve anything. The general public requires specific community policing programmes where the general community is involved. But unfortunately, their administration is weak and as only individual officers would take the initiative to perform such activities they end up without any direction as they do not find any support.

@ Ms Hansen - While I agree with you, it is still insensible and idiotic to FORCE policemen to give a certain number of fines, What if they are on a beat in an area where there is actually no littering being done? Does that make sense to you?

We have to battle between two extremes and Miss Hansen is here advocating towards one extreme. Both extremes are wrong. But in Malta, we seem to be able to follow only an extreme path.

@Pamela Hansen
I'm surprised you missed the gist of Dr Falzon's comments. He never said that the police should in any way shirk from their duty of enforcing the litter laws. What he clearly stated was that the police should not be forced to give a set number of fines or else face disciplinary action. Like Dr Falzon and Pamela Hansen I'm all for law enforcement but would hate to be fined for a trivial contravention given by a policeman just to reach his day's quota.

Very well said Pamela, however your logic will not be understood by many politically preconditioned minds. Unfortunately the country is plaqued with a group of people who are committed to shoot at the government in a bid to win votes, even if that means that they have to make a fool of themselves.
What did the police think? That they can sit pretty in their patrol car and wait for the their shift to be over?

There are two categories of drivers in Malta; those who pay their fines and see what went wrong , the others main concern is getting out of the ticket .I bet you met many of the latter.

These are people who are expected to be in Govt in a few yrs time. They side with policemen who are complaining because they are asked to to do their duty. Shame. Cheap propaganda. Only law enforcement will educate the people. No wonder that law enforcement do not exists in Malta.

education...& more litter bins.

As far as I know it was Governor Maitland who removed the system by which members of those bodies empowered to enforce the law got remunerated in accordance to how many arrests/fines etc they were able to do. I don't think we should go back to that system (even if, it seems, Wardens have already gone back to that system).

This is a repeat of what L-Orrizont was so shocked about on September 9. In that article the paper reported that it had received complaints from a number of policemen that they not only were required to give out tickets (bilfors), to anyone caught throwing cigarette butts and paper in the street, but they also were being threatened with action if they failed to carry out their duty and enforce the law.
Well that is the point of having a litter law. Police officers are there to ensure laws are enforced. What is unacceptable is the Opposition Spokesman for Home Affairs comparing giving fines to vending machines. Considering the level of enforcement here, he should be encouraging police officers to do their duty. As for the police educating the public, is Michael Falzon serious. They cannot even give a good example by their driving. Some educators!

We all know about the state of enforcement in this country. It is rather ironic and telling that certain police officers are complaining that they have to enforce the law.