A number of officers from the newly-formed Rapid Intervention Unit have been assigned to Malta’s clubbing district. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Paceville security has been beefed up with police from the Rapid Intervention Unit available on standby to provide assistance within three minutes, according to the Home Affairs Ministry.

A number of officers from the newly-formed unit have been assigned to Malta’s clubbing district while other units are available outside Paceville on standby, the ministry’s spokeswoman told Times of Malta.

The unit is a merging of the Special Assignment Group and the Mobile Squad which was formally announced in June. Its job is to be on continuous patrol to prevent crime but is also armed and trained for riot control among other eventualities.

Earlier this month, Times of Malta reported that extra police officers would be deployed to Paceville following a recent security warning to American visitors from the US State Department over “racially motivated violence” and “poor crowd control”.

Among the measures taken, there has been an increase in the number of onsite officers on weekends and Wednesdays through a system of overtime for police officers coming from various districts. Drug squad officers are also available on site.

MTA has also recently offered to buy and install more surveillance cameras

The spokeswoman also said checks were made to ensure adequate lighting in the streets of Paceville. There are also eight cameras belonging to the Malta Tourism Authority which can provide “the necessary assistance promptly”.

“MTA has also recently offered to buy and install more surveillance cameras over the next three or four years at a rate of approximately two per year,” she added.

Security in Paceville is a perennial issue. Two years ago, the pressure group GASP (Group Acting for a Safer Paceville) was set up to make recommendations.

In 2011, assistant police commissioner Ray Zammit had told Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee there was no contingency plan for any major mishap in Paceville, be it a huge fight or a fire in an entertainment venue.

In any such event not even the police would know where to begin to handle the situation, he had said.

The problems were also highlighted by the Labour Party in this year’s election campaign with now Prime Minister Joseph Muscat having called for greater police presence in Swieqi and the neighbouring hotspot areas.