One hundred and twenty new recruits started their career as constables in the Malta Police Force this morning.

A total of 92 males and 28 females went through the first passing-out parade at ta’ Kandja Academy, since it was set up as an Academy for Disciplined Forces.

The ceremony was presided by Home Affairs Minister and Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.

Currently there are more than 1,000 police members stationed in districts.

The minister spoke on the importance of a modern, proactive force closer to the community, through more patrolling and contact with different sectors of community.

The police restructuring process includes new recruitment/calls for different roles and an attempt to increase the role of civilians for administrative work. 

Mr Abela noted that around 260 police officers, in the last three years, were given training abroad in specialised fields in around 20 different EU countries.

He recalled that new rights were introduced including right of representation, more flexible working hours and reduction in tax rate for extra duties.

For the last 14 weeks the new recruits were exposed to intensive training both academic and practical addressing situations that they will encounter. This included presentation of evidence in court, dealing with victims of crime, scene of crime management and subjects related to domestic violence, drug trafficking, cybercrime and economic crimes.