A consultation process aimed to modernise the police force and make better use of its resources was announced today by Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela.

The consultation will be the basis of a  new strategy for the force. The strategy is set to start being implemented early next year. It will include the reorganisation of the internal police administration. 

Mr Abela said that certain reforms such as those at the police academy will start earlier. These reforms, he said, will be carried out in the coming months, as the force could no longer afford to postpone certain pressing decisions.

The minister was speaking at the Zejtun police station which incorporates the biggest police district stretching up to Mqabba, with a total population of about 32,000 people. 

He said that the police were bound to keep track of crime trends to make the best use of their resources. The emergence of cyber crime was a case in point as this section up to a few years ago did not even exist but was now one of the main pillars of the force.

Mr Abela said that in the coming months the force would be beefed up by an additional 100 officers, which would allow long serving members of the force to receive training.

The minister acknowledged that a number of police stations, including that at St Julian's which was the perennial crime capital, was too small to cope with the demand. As a result he said that the government would see how to beef up police presence in certain localities which are not being adequately served.

The Home Affairs Minister noted that efforts to have a stronger police presence on the road had already led to an overall decline of five per cent in the national crime rate last year.