Treatment of rotten apples in Police Force

I refer to the letter penned by Frans Sammut of Luqa, under the title Police Silence On Alleged Abuses (September 12).

With all due respect to Mr Sammut, the force's Community and Media Relations Unit did indeed respond to the alleged police officers' abuses. Our right of reply was in fact sent to MaltaToday, the paper in which the allegation appeared on August 25, 2009. Regrettably, the paper did not give it any first-page prominence, contrary to what it did to the story originally featuring the alleged abuse.

On the same date a number of local newspapers and other media stations were also provided with a press release but, unfortunately, they did not print or broadcast our version.

Nevertheless, Mr Sammut may put his mind at rest that any case of police abuse is indeed investigated. To this effect there are two separate procedures that can be proceeded with.

First, there is the force's Internal Affairs Unit headed by a superintendent, which deals with complaints sent to it by the public all year round.

Secondly, police wrongdoings are also investigated by an independent police complaints commission known as the Police Board. The rationale behind the creation of the Police Board was to ensure that the police do not insulate themselves from public scrutiny as the board is composted of persons entirely from outside the force and is chaired by a retired judge. Its remit is similar to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) of the United Kingdom. To date, the Police Board has investigated about 70 complaints made against the police.

The conclusion of these investigations by both the Internal Affairs Unit and the Police Board often leads to disciplinary or criminal action being taken against the police officer who may have overstepped his or her power. Suffice it to say that, this year, a number of police officers were separately arraigned and charged with a number of offences. Some of them were also suspended from their duties pending court proceedings.

Mr Sammut should also know that when cases of alleged police abuse surface in court, the force is in duty bound to act with caution in releasing any media statement as this may hamper the court proceedings that are still sub judice. However, it must be clearly stated that the Police Force has never hesitated to take the necessary directions given to it by the judiciary.

All this clearly shows that there is indeed no room for rotten apples in the Police Force. Those who commit blunders in their duty have to shoulder their responsibility, administratively or criminally. In our opinion, the problem appears to be one of communication, as alleged police abuses are given front-page coverage while our explanation of the facts is more often than not ignored.