Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit this evening promised an increase in the police presence in Paceville as well as other measures including closed circuit television.

Mr Zammit was speaking in a discussion on the situation in Paceville on TimesTalk.

He said the police presence needed to be increased by between 25% and 30% which meant between 10 and 20 more officers every day.

But there was also need for more cameras placed at high vantage points. One could not have a policeman at every corner, and strategically placed cameras would enable those monitoring them to quickly assess a developing situation.

The commissioner said that work on this double strategy started months ago with an intake of 100 constables who were currently training at the Police Academy. When their classroom lectures were completed in a few weeks' time, another 100 constables would be recruited and they too would start their training.

A high percentage of these officers would be deployed to Paceville as part of their training.

But the commissioner said the quality of training also needed to be improved, particularly to tackle a scenario such as Paceville. That was one reason why Police Academy courses were being revamped. 

At present there simply were not enough adequately trained policemen. The best-trained were the officers of the Rapid Intervention Unit - 180 officers divided into five shifts. Several RIU officers were deployed to Paceville every day, but they were thin on the ground as the police also had a duty to provide security all over Malta.

The commissioner pointed out that a constable in St Julian's handled some 50 cases in eight hours, while another in Rabat handled about three. 

He said he was also planning to set up a sub-police station in Paceville, which would also help for greater police efficiency in the area.

Other guests in the show were Dr Anthony Farrugia who spoke on behalf of residents and Mark Grima, a bar owner. 

Mr Grima said part of the issue was not the number of policemen in Paceville, but their attitude. Studies showed that when one applied the law at zero tolerance, including on-the-spot fines, incidents were reduced. He felt the issue of installing cameras was a matter of 'when' not 'if'. There should be manned cameras, and privacy issues should not come into it because of the higher security priority, he insisted.

Dr Farrugia also insisted on the importance of having manned cameras to deter crime. He said the police presence should be strong in a way which would earn them respect and deter incidents. This would be a means to protect society and could not be construed as an ingredient of a police state, he said.

The programme included an interview with a father whose son suffered a slash wound in Paceville during a fight. See above.