Police officers are only subjected to urine tests if suspicions of substance abuse arise, Commissioner Laurence Cutajar has confirmed.

Asked whether police officers were subjected to screening tests to ensure that they were not abusing any substances – including after they completed training at the academy – Mr Cutajar confirmed tests were only carried out if there were suspicions.

“I can confirm that whenever there have been any suspicions, the standard police procedures – including testing urine – were used and the matter is looked into. There were also police officers who had to leave the force,” Mr Cutajar said.

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Times of Malta sought the Commissioner’s comments in the wake of revelations that three police officers were caught in possession of cocaine in a Paceville nightclub a few days before Christmas.

While Mr Cutajar said that having members of the force involved in such incidents was “not a good thing”, he pointed out that the mere fact the officers in possession of the cocaine were caught served as proof that any form of criminal activity was investigated. He also went on to hail their capture as “a success”.

There were also police officers who had to leave the force

Pressed to say whether tests were ever done randomly, Mr Cutajar admitted that “at present these are not being carried out”.

Police sources told this newspaper that internal controls have been “quite lax” in recent years.

They also questioned whether any form of screening was being carried out, since they had never been requested to submit a urine sample despite serving in the force for some time.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia also confirmed that officers are only tested when they first enter the police academy and in the event of suspicions or reports of substance abuse.

Dr Farrugia said that while at present no random checks were carried out, the force was looking into a possible policy change to bring procedures more in line with the realities of “today’s times”.

“We will be evaluating the standard operating procedures, not just on drugs, but on a number of things,” the minister said yesterday.

“So far within the force, random checks have never been carried out, so we are evaluating whether we should change these procedures.”