The police force is at the crossroads. More likely, it is in crisis. That may be a strong statement but if meaningful action is to be taken to address the prevailing situation and right wrongs then there is no other way to put it.
Police Commissioner Michael Cassar must know it because he has been there for most of his life and is a policeman through and through. In being loyal to the force and what it stands for, his foremost interest is to ensure he and his men remain fully committed to their main mission: to serve and protect society.
Unfortunately, a string of episodes in which senior police officers – including at the very top – have been involved, risk eroding the credibility the force requires to do its duty. Without such credibility, the police will not be trusted by society.
The fact that Mr Cassar is the fourth police commissioner in just over two years is very telling. The head of police is not normally replaced if there is no real good reason to do so.
The Labour Party had rushed to appoint a new Police Commissioner so soon after the March 2013 election. As it turned out, the new appointee lasted just over a year in office and, yet, to this very day, the government has not deemed it fit to tell the electorate why he was removed.
His successor was sacked within a few months over the very serious shooting incident involving the driver of former home affairs minister Manuel Mallia, who was also shown the door by the Prime Minister.
However, in both cases, the two outgoing police chiefs were given alternative jobs. The message Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his government transmitted in acting this way was that failure, if not downright abuse, can still be rewarded.
It was, without any doubt, the worst kind of message that could have possibly been transmitted and it compromised the government’s position when it comes to discipline.
People are sacked or made to resign because of gross dereliction of duty or scandals. It would, therefore, be sheer nonsense to then move such people to other sensitive jobs, such as coordinating the security of the Malta CHOGM or heading a new local enforcement authority.
In both instances, the government sowed the wind and, thus, it can only expect to reap the whirlwind.
It has now emerged that three senior police officers, including one of the former chiefs, were involved in a commercial company, something that is explicitly prohibited by law.
The Police Act clearly states in the third schedule that an officer who “carries on or is concerned in any trade or business, or otherwise fails to devote his whole time to the police service” would be disobeying orders.
Internal investigations have now started but, to put society’s mind at rest, the police force needs to go beyond the three individuals involved.
For one is justified to wonder how many police officers have some sort of business interest and to what extent could this impinge on the need for them to act without fear or favour when enforcing the law.
And here is the dilemma Mr Cassar faces. Can he proceed firmly against defaulters when his political masters treated with kid gloves those who should have led by example?
The answer, of course, is that two wrongs do not make a right. He is there to ensure the law is respected in both word and spirit.
The people expect him to do his duty and are confident he will.