Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg yesterday announced new allowances for policemen who serve in offices and in trades and said the crime rate had declined for a second successive year.
In remarks to Parliament during the budget debate, Dr Borg said the members of the police force always benefited under PN governments and saw conditions deteriorate under Labour.
Since 1998, police constables had seen their basic salary rise by Lm32 per week and sergeants by Lm40 per week, excluding allowances. Indeed, allowances given to the police, such as for Sunday duties, had risen to Lm1.9 million from Lm1.15 million under Labour, while overtime pay had practically doubled. And income tax was going down.
Dr Borg said that in line with an announcement made by the Prime Minister on Wednesday, he could announce that policemen who worked in trades or in offices would receive an allowance of Lm45 per month. Such policemen, numbering 211, did not enjoy Sunday allowances and benefits given to other policemen and there had therefore been a discrepancy in incomes of some Lm120 per month, which was now being narrowed, he said.
The disturbance allowance for officers was also being raised to Lm30 per month from Lm17.
Dr Borg said these improved conditions followed other significant changes, particularly to the shift system. In 2006 under the old system, policemen lost a total of 2,380 days off because of the way leave was granted. This was now no longer happening.
Another innovation was in how policemen now had at least eight hours per month allocated for training.
Dr Borg said the results were showing, with the crime rate having fallen for the second successive year. It dropped by 11 per cent last year and a further nine per cent this year.
Furthermore, he said, it was not true that violent crime had increased, as Labour claimed.
Theft cases had declined by 11 per cent last year and 10.6 per cent this year, with almost a quarter of the cases involving theft of mobile phones.
House burglaries were down by 19.6 per cent last year and 21 per cent this year, and the number of hold-ups was down for the past two years and were lower than in 1998. Snatch and grab cases had declined by 14 per cent and thefts of cars were down by half over 1998, Dr Borg said.
The police had made huge successes in their fight against drugs, with, among others, a record 11-kilo heroin haul and the discovery of a total of 30,000 ecstasy pills.
Although the opposition claimed that the police were demoralised, fewer were resigning than before, and it was worth recalling that those who left after 25 years of service were making use of a right returned to them by this government.
Dr Borg said the police force would continue to be strengthened with 130 recruits. Twenty new cars were being bought. The police had bought new breathalyser kits and invested Lm70,000 in a digital laboratory.
The minister thanked the police for their work which would enable Malta to participate in the Schengen agreement early next year.
In his speech he also thanked and praised the Civil Protection Department and its volunteers section for their work and service.
Earlier, Opposition home affairs spokesman Gavin Gulia said the police force was demoralised and resignations were reaching record numbers. Why were policemen not staying on beyond their 25 years service? Salaries had not been revised since 1993 and parity with the civil service had been lost.
The Labour spokesman said crime had peaked at 18,266 in 2005 from 14,636 under Labour. The minister used to claim that crime had risen because of theft of mobile phones. The fact was, however, that serious and violent crime was on the increase. In 1998 there were 433 violent crimes and in 2007 there were 904. Drug cases had risen from 30 to 127, sex offences from 47 to 59 and violence against policemen from 54 to 83.
Dr Gulia referred to plans to build a new police academy at Ta' Kandja and said this was nothing new, but financial allocations for this project were scant.
Nationalist MP Mario de Marco also referred to the police academy plans. The academy, he stressed, was important because the police needed to receive ongoing and specialised training. With the academy set to leave Fort St Elmo, Dr de Marco said he feared that this gem of Malta's heritage would suffer lack of maintenance. It was therefore important for the government to set out a restoration project and a role for this historic fort.