Two men detained in army road block

Darby Allen

Mar 10th 2009, 13:44

As a retired UK police officer I cannot let A Darmanin’s assertions go unchallenged.
On very rare occasions service personnel - including the Royal Military Police - have been called upon to assist county police forces in emergencies, and those who may need powers of arrest have to be sworn in as Special Constables for the duration of the emergency.
The Royal Military Police is not a gendarmerie, and has no jurisdiction over the civilian population of Great Britain.

James Green

Mar 9th 2009, 21:50

@ All
Kindly note from Taser, quote:

20-40 pieces of film printed with the serial number of that Air Cartridge are loaded behind them. When the TASER is deployed, these AFID tags are dispersed at the scene. The large number of AFIDS and their small size makes it impractical to clean up. When police are called to investigate any TASER use, they can find these tags and contact TASER International for a complete trace on the serial number.
All shipments from TASER International are entered into our shipment tracking system we know where every Air Cartridge we ship goes:
Unquote


The above seems to indicate that any discharge of a Taser should greatly assist the Police in tracing its owner and would thus act as a deterrant to its use in an offensive manner.

Joseph Schembri

Mar 9th 2009, 12:40

Wow the army caught a battery operated toy (the word gun is a misnomer). Tasers can be bought over ebay as easily as CDs and many women in the USA carry them in their handbags. They are not harmful or so the Police Commissioner assured us some months ago when some police officers were issued with same.

Oh yes and they found a joint. That is how we utilise the armed forces. If they have nothing better to do than harass citizens I can draw a list of jobs that the country needs done..

a darmanin

Mar 9th 2009, 00:52

@J Azzopardi
For your information the Armed Forces of Malta's C(SD) Company are not Military Police, they are infantry men that's why they train intensively in infantry, because it's their appropriate role and to be clear the vehicle check points in Malta fall under the responsability of the B Company not the C Company.

Trevor Lorenzo Mizzi

Mar 8th 2009, 22:04

Good lord !
Cannabis, now there is real danger.
I will sleep better at night knowing it is in the hands of the law.

Martin Galea

Mar 8th 2009, 21:24

Until such time as the contents of Legal Notice 66 of 1980 are repealed, Armed Forces of Malta personnel, when authorised to do so, can act as Police and/or customs officers. Read the notice, it is available in the justice website. In other words, when the army is out on roadblocks, it is fully authorised to do so, by the highest authority in the land. Not something that everybody necessarily agrees with, but that's the way it is.

Ronald Zammit

Mar 8th 2009, 20:55

I think it is besides the point who does the searches or roadblocks as long as the aim is preventing crime, in this case carrying a taser gun(in which i don t see a lot of innocence). Secondly i don't see why we should have another force to do such works. The army trains soldiers to do these jobs and they do it well. We should be thankful for the dedication of people we have in C company.

J Azzopardi

Mar 8th 2009, 20:30

Think outside the box for a change. Army C Company are detailed for special duties - same as all the other paramilitary forces mentioned for other countries.

v farrugia

Mar 8th 2009, 20:10

Did the fact that the two men were caught in possession of CANNABIS escape from you lot?!

I do care about my civil liberties, but I would rather be stopped and searched in a road-block, than have road-blocks outlawed with the consequence that illegal substances can flourish. Kevin Ellul Bonici et al, the innocent, law-abiding citizen has nothing to be afraid of, it's the pushers that do.

a darmanin

Mar 8th 2009, 19:25

In such a way I agree with Kevin Ellul Bonici. Some of the bloggers here misunderstood what Kevin is trying to say. Most of the countries of the world have the Paramilitary Forces and Gendarmeries, that are a military body that are detailed with police duties among civilian populations.
To mention some Italy have their own Carabinieri to do such work.
In spain - Guadia Civil (that speak for itself).
In France - Gendarmerie Nationale.
In Ireland - Irish Military Police.
In United Kingdom - Royal Military Police.
In United States - Military Police Corps.
In Canada - Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

So why shall we not have our own Military Police as like majority countries?
The pure role of the Armed Forces itself is not exactly to do this work within civilians although there is natural disaster, a flooding etc. etc. despite the fact that there is the Civil Protection to do that work.

Charles Sammut

Mar 8th 2009, 19:03

@ Kevin Ellul Bonici

I agree with you. I even doubt whether these roadblocks are legal in the first place.

However, the members of C company rarely get to see some real action.

@victor vella

You may not see good intent carrying a taser gun. But with the spate of holdups and armed robberies we have had, I do not blame anyone for carrying a defensive weapon.

Eric Camilleri

Mar 8th 2009, 18:45

@ Kevin Ellul Bonici
AFM do a good job and C Company personnel are well trained in road blocks, results of which are the culprits they successfully apprehend.

victor vella

Mar 8th 2009, 17:36

@ Kevin Ellul Bonici
The army personel at road blocks are not being used against the civilian population, they are protecting the civilians against criminals with ill intent, I do not see and good intent in carrying a taser gun.Who knows why you complain? Besides the police are doing quite a good job at the moment so any help from the armed forces is appreciated.You of all people should know quite well the logistics required for a road block.

J.Tonna

Mar 8th 2009, 17:31

@ kevin ellul-bonici - Either you are very young or you want to forget that the army was used in support of the Police Force for more than 20 years. Once they even wanted to amalgamate them. Illegal emigrants are not the only problem we have in Malta, even illegal use of drugs and weapons are a problem and the army is being used to defend us and our children from such culprits too. For this we should thank them very much.

kevin ellul-bonici

Mar 8th 2009, 16:54

lgalea - we can double the number of police officers and still would eventually be 'in need of more'. The phenomenon is called Parkinson's Law. Find out more about it and try to realise that a nation's armed forces should never be used for civilian purposes unless in times of disasters, when extra arms are needed - not to police but to save lives.

And, by the way, lgalea, the army road blocks are not searching for illegal immigrants but are searching innocent civilians, mostly from the younger generations.

Paul Zammit

Mar 8th 2009, 16:52

@ kevin ellul bonici.

The army is being utilised IN FAVOUR and not AGAINST the civilian population. It is being utilised only against the non law-abiding civilian population, for which I thank them very much.

lgalea

Mar 8th 2009, 16:32

kevin ellul-bonici
The problem is that we do not have enough police Kevin.
In fact, if we get the police, the army and the civil protection department personnel together, they are outnumbered 4:1 by the illegal immigrants.

kevin ellul-bonici

Mar 8th 2009, 15:59

Why are the armed forced still being utilised against the civilian population?
The army is not there to police civilians - does anyone know this? It has been going on forever and I seem the only one to complain.