Of all the major arms of the State, the Malta Police Force is probably the weakest. Although in the post-1987 period of institutional rebuilding considerable strides were made in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Armed Forces and the Civil Service, attempts at reviving the fortunes of the police force have consistently stuttered. Today, it would not be an exaggeration to say that efforts at improvement and reorganisation have failed.
The last 40 years of the force’s history have been marked by constant political interference, some dark episodes of politically motivated violence and periodic failed attempts at reorganisation and revival with a resultant lack of stability, a gradual lowering of morale and a culture of mediocrity of performance and leadership. As the Malta Police Force stands on the cusp of marking its long and previously largely honourable 200-year history, the country is facing a troubled, not to say broken force.
The government’s current announcement of “a study and implementation of a reorganisation process on different levels of the Police Corps” (whatever this may mean) simply does not go far enough. A radical shake-up of the police force is urgently required. But for this to succeed there must be the political will – by both major political parties – to make it happen in a non-partisan manner. It is extremely doubtful whether the current Minister for Home Affairs and National Security has either the competence or commands the political confidence and respect to carry this out successfully.
The best hope is that the Prime Minister sets up an independent Commission, reporting direct to him, “to examine the state of leadership, training, morale and organisation of the Malta Police Force, and to make far-reaching recommendations for its improvement”. The Commission should be required to report before the end of the year.
Not for the first time in recent years, the quality of leadership of the police force has been thrown into sharp relief and found wanting.
The fault for this must lie fairly and squarely at the feet of the politicians who made their selection based not on the quality and experience of the individuals concerned, but on their political allegiance.
It would be easy to be fixated by the shenanigans that led to one Zammit (Peter Paul) being kicked upstairs to a non-job and succeeded as Commissioner by another Zammit (Ray), who in turn had replaced another Zammit (Abraham) as Director of the Corradino Correctional Facility. There are the ingredients of a Whitehall farce here with doors slamming and others opening and much Maltese blaspheming to allow Ray Zammit (known in the Force as Il-Mulej, literally the Lord God) to become the new (Acting?) Commissioner of Police.
For as long as I have known the Malta Police Force, during my time as adviser in the Prime Minister’s office and dealing with irregular immigration at Home Affairs, the quality of leadership has been mostly indifferent. It wasn’t that the Commissioners themselves weren’t good people. It was that they simply had not been taught how to exercise leadership. Command and control was cumbersome and over-centralised. The art of supervised delegation was unknown.
The officer corps of the Police Force is riddled with cliques, thus undermining the chain of command. It is also grossly over-ranked. The joke that the Malta Police Force has more deputy commissioners than the much larger Metropolitan Police Force in London is worth repeating.
The problem is if everybody is worthy of being a chief, what happens to the poor, hard-working Indians at the bottom of the heap? There are some good policemen in the force but they are stymied by poor man-management and an intrinsically weak organisation.
The challenge lies in achieving increased efficiency through outstanding leadership, excellent training and better utilisation of resources
Promotion in the force is almost invariably achieved by progression through the ranks. There is a strong case for arguing that a universal system of direct entry to the officer ranks should be considered as a way of breaking the current dead wood log-jam, raising quality and creating an officer class trained to take early leadership responsibility, as happens in the AFM.
There is also an overriding case for fast-stream members of the force to attend foreign police staff colleges and secondments to other police forces abroad to broaden their experience, to learn the latest methods of policing and prepare them for future leadership roles.
Training at all levels of the force leaves much to be desired. The officious and brusque manner shown when dealing with members of the public is a mark of poor training. The recent incident in Paceville, when two Swedish women tourists were needlessly strip-searched by a police Sergeant Major and a police Sergeant is indicative of poor training.
There have been several such instances where individual police officers have over-reacted and brought disgrace on their uniform. The ability to handle such situations with tact and self-control should form an intrinsic part of training.
The standard of basic training at the Police Academy, which moved two years ago from Fort St Elmo to Ta’ Kandja, is crucial to the final quality of the officer on the beat. Yet it is rumoured that the new academy has still not settled in its new location and its output is still to be tested. Continuation training development after basic recruit training should be considerably stepped up to ensure that the professionalism of police officers is improved.
The operational effectiveness of the police force is derived from a combination of factors. These include professional competence, good organisation, acute operational intelligence especially in the war on drugs and the battle with corruption, adequate manpower resources, up-to-date equipment and effective leadership. In all these areas there is a sense that the Malta Police Force has some way to go.
Although the force might argue that they should be given additional resources, the reality is that money will continue to be tight and, more importantly, that lack of resources is not the core issue. The challenge lies in achieving increased efficiency through outstanding leadership, excellent training and better utilisation of resources through good organisation and deployment.
The deployment of the force in police districts around the island needs radical re-examination to ensure resources are placed where they are most effective, not simply where they have always been before. An organisation whose manpower will always be tight needs to prioritise its tasks.
Is time and manpower spent on events such as silent drill displays or a “Trooping the Colour” performance, really the best use of scarce resources, compared with neighbourhood demands to maintain public order or the crying need for police on the roads to control Malta’s reckless drivers?
The organisation and command and control of the force needs reconsideration so that there is a greater presence where it is most needed – for example in Paceville, which tends to be a hot-bed of drink- and drugs-related crime, and other areas which are crime hot spots for burglary.
Maintaining good public order is fundamental to adherence to the rule of law and the mark of a civilised society. The Malta Police Force has a vital role to play. There is a long-standing, crucial need to restore citizens’ confidence in the leadership and operational effectiveness of the police.