Skirmishes in the entertainment mecca that is Paceville are the order of the day, as all those who frequent the place will attest to. Some are more serious than others, the majority probably consisting of punch-ups with the victims luckily sustaining scratches and bruises, as was the case of a young man and his girlfriend last week. This led the youth’s father, a lawyer, to bring the matter to the attention of the public and even set up a pressure group to confront the “lawlessness in Paceville” and instil a sense of security there.
There was widespread reaction to an opinion piece on the incident he wrote on the Saturday issue of The Times. Even Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici felt he had to comment. Not so the police who, so far, have remained mum though they have arraigned a person who was conditionally discharged.
In his piece entitled When Inaction Is Not An Option, Anthony P. Farrugia wrote: “The police need to be there to show one and all that there is no place for transgressors of the law in a place that exists for youthful entertainment. Otherwise, it would seem we are surrendering lawful territory to the unlawful elements that plague society. Even worse, the crass inability of the police to pre-empt undesirable incidents and the inability to effectively pursue and bring to justice any wrongdoers tend to nurture a vigilante attitude among the wronged.”
Dr Farrugia acknowledged that police officers are dedicated and go through big sacrifices in the course of their duties. He also added that “the force is seriously overstretched by way of personnel, tools and training and the responsibility therefore rests with the upper echelons to equip the police to actually ‘serve and protect’”.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici condemned the incident and insisted with The Sunday Times, which followed up Dr Farrugia’s article, that the authorities were not complacent. The minister spoke about the police carrying out their duty, on what a good job they have been doing and on how crucial it was not to become a police state.
This “standard” reply could hardly have been better and so the rhetoric. Not to say anything about the punishment meted out by the magistrate in the case raised by Dr Farrugia.
These definitely do not reflect the reality those who frequent the place and parents, in the case of the young, experience.
Nobody is saying individual policemen do not do their utmost or that some senior officers are not worried with the situation there. Neither that the government is not disturbed when such incidents occur. The appeal is to do what it takes to pre-empt such happenings. Dr Farrugia was clear about this in his article: “CCTV footage such as there may exist is here only used to investigate. Rather, its purpose should be to actively monitor and intervene where a secure environment is seriously desired.”
CCTV cameras do exist at Paceville and, if need be, more should be installed and the minister should rest assured that nobody but the bad are likely to object to that.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici should waste no time in calling an urgent meeting involving all stakeholders to come up with an action plan that is made public so everyone can be held to account. In addition, all available security personnel, and not just policemen, should be made good use of and monitoring via CCTV cameras must be done in real-time rather than view the footage to make reports post-factum.