Control of gun and drug crime

I live in the UK and have been a police officer for 20 years. I have dealt with hundreds of incidents such as the hold-up of the salesgirl in Żebbuġ reported on February 21 (Incidentally, I wish to make it clear that I am not the same person who posted a comment online about the incident, although we share the same surname).

Armed robbery, same as any other crime, is very unpleasant and downright distressing to the victim. In this day and age a lot of this crime is down to the drug- dependent society we live in. This is not just something that happens in the UK or Malta. A drug addict will do almost anything for his/her next fix.

It is useless for us writing letters and being in favour or against the authorities.

Do not blame the police either. People tend to do this but the police can only do so much, i.e., catch the criminals and take them to court. After that, it is down to the judicial system to make sure that criminals are dealt with properly.

Gun crime or the use of other weapons to commit such crime as robbery should carry a straightforward life sentence. Drug rehabilitation should be part of the judicial sentence passed for any drug-related crime. In the UK anyone arrested for theft, robbery, etc (in other words what we call acquisitive crime where the person does it for money to finance their drug habit) is tested and, if found under the influence, one of their conditions will be to see a drugs officer even while awaiting trial for the original offence.

Last but not least, there should be more control on weapons and their availability. The use of a replica gun is considered as serious as the use of a real gun and carries the same sentence. Anybody convicted of serious offences like assault can never hold a gun licence and if they have guns they are confiscated.

Malta has changed a lot over the years. It is not the same place that I remember as a child where violent crime never happened or at least was very rare. With progress comes the downside of losing some, if not all, of our culture. Nowadays we have become a multicultural nation and in many ways that is good, however, this also brings problems that we are not accustomed to.

In some countries the way of life is that of dog eat dog. If you have an argument with anybody you pull out a knife or a gun. If you want something to either finance your drug habit or way of life you steal it from anybody irrespective of who they are.

Unfortunately freedom of movement within the European Union together with illegal immigration brings a lot of different cultures to our shores. It has been exactly the same in the UK with devastating results.

We need to control this trend before it gets out of hand. I am not going to start putting the blame on anybody because it is not just one person or one party to blame. If we all work together this would be far easier to control in Malta than anywhere else.

Speaking from experience, Malta is still one of the safest places to live in and I for one am looking forward to returning for good later this year. We simply need to change with the times.