New Police Commissioner Michael Cassar said this evening that he would not tolerate any meetings between members of the police force and criminals or other shady characters and he would be putting in a procedure for such meetings to take place only for authorised intelligence gathering.
Speaking on Disett, Mr Cassar said the situation in the police force was not a happy one.
There was a lack of respect for rank and a lack of discipline.
The situation had been deteriorating for years, he said.
He said reforms would be rolled out in the police force to ensure that the police served the people well and deserved their respect.
One of his commitments was to set up a Victim Support Unit, because while the rights of people under investigation needed to be respected, the victims of crime were often not given the assistance and support they needed.
Mr Cassar refused to comment on the shooting incident involving the driver of former minister Manuel Mallia other than to say that investigations were continuing.
With regard to Deputy Commissioner Ray Zammit, who was Acting Commissioner up to Monday, Mr Cassar said he had known Mr Zammit for many years. They had had a long meeting and Mr Zammit had said he would continue to serve. Mr Cassar said he was confident he would continue to contribute to the force.
Asked if he was investigating the leaks of phone recordings in the wake of the shooting incident, Mr Cassar said he was looking ahead at preventing a repeat of what happened. This did not mean hiding information about the police, but everything had to be investigated in the proper way using the proper channels, he said. And the people needed to be assured of confidentiality when they reported information.
He said he was prepared to work with all members of the police force, but would not tolerate laziness. The police, he said, had to work as a team, without covering for each other when things went wrong.
Asked about the support he had from politicians, Mr Cassar said he obviously had the support of the prime minister, who had appointed him. The reaction of the opposition was also positive.
But it was the support of the people which was most important. What kept him going in the past were the words of encouragement he received from members of the public, as well as information. That was what motivated him and that was what was needed to motivate the police force, where motivation was currently 'flat'.
He also revealed that the situation had been just as 'flat' if not worse at the Security Service, which he headed until Monday. Progress was being made and he was confident that results would be achieved there too, he said.