Five village feasts being celebrated this weekend forced the police to hold Police Day celebrations today instead of Sunday, a spokesman said.
The spokesman said officers would be on duty in Gżira, Balzan, Kirkop, Fgura and Kerċem this weekend. It was therefore necessary to move celebrations to another date, he added, pointing out that the same had been done in 1998 and in 2009, when Police Day proper fell on a Sunday.
Times of Malta asked whether the decision to bring the activities forward could have been prompted by overtime considerations but the spokesman did not refer to this matter in his reply.
Activities today start at 9am with solemn Mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, followed by displays by the precision drill team, the dogs and mounted sections and the police band at St George’s Square, also in Valletta.
Governor Sir Thomas Maitland had ordered in July 1814 that all powers with respect to the administration of the Malta police were to be administered by the authorities under established procedures as of July 12 of that same year.