Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1539444
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 SEPTEMBER 2025 INTERVIEW The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY What does the RPU do that 'normal police officers' don't? It is a unit which is new and not at the same time. Its work is divided in two: Enforcement, which was carried out by what was called the traffic section; and the investigative arm. Before when there was an accident, you had district police investigating the case, and this would lead to a longer investigation, and we felt we needed to centralise the process. We trained our officers and invested in equipment, and now we have specialised officers for accidents involving injuries or fatalities. A problem which we see complaints and statements about is over-speeding. In certain areas at certain times, like the Naxxar Coast Road, the Haz-Zebbug By- pass and the Mriehel Bypass, you have people who persist in over-speeding, and it seems nothing is done about it. Why? I agree that over-speeding is a problem. Enforcement is carried out, not just by us, but also by LESA and Transport Malta to ensure enforcement is at the maximum. Now, we could have a police officer stationed in the area for 24 hours, but as has been proven in the past, that activity is shifted towards another area. For example, at the Naxxar Coast Road, we noticed that a lot of over-speeding was happening at a certain part of the road, and fixed cameras were introduced. What happened was that over-speeding shifted to another area. People will realise that a police officer is always posted there, and speed elsewhere. We do not take that approach. You also have fixed cameras to penalise over-speeding. In certain areas, we deploy officers with a speed gun at specific times where over-speeding happens regularly. We've had a summer of road fatalities and serious ac- cidents. Was this a coinci- dence or a wider reflection of the driving culture in Malta? Every fatality has a name, has a family and so we must respect that. As you said, we had an increase in fatalities, with one day even registering three fatalities. But this is not a new phenomenon; having a surge in traffic accidents and fatalities in a short period has happened before. I think the hype or attention given to these accidents stemmed from a number of factors, including better police work. Before, to announce fatalities we would wait for the magisterial inquiry conclusions, with some even taking up to a year for it to conclude. But we have taken a different route, and where there is clear gross negligence and a person has died, we go ahead and charge the alleged perpetrators. The media ends up reporting on the fatality itself, as well as the court proceedings. With social media you also have articles and reports that keep coming up on news feeds. But do you think over-speeding is part of driving culture in Malta? I think we have to look at the wider trends in Europe, and not look at Malta alone. You can notice that in Nordic countries, you have less over- speeding, but more driving under the influence of drugs. If you head south, that trend changes, and over- speeding is more prevalent. When these cases make the news, we start seeing experts calling for better enforcement. The unit you head is tasked with carry- ing out such enforcement. Are you not doing your work properly? No, I think we are doing our work better as we are carrying out targeted enforcement, rather than going always to the same place. We are looking at what the data is telling us, and enforce according to what that data shows. I must also point out that it's not just us who carry out enforcement, but other sections within the force, such as district police, community police and the Rapid Intervention Unit. After government regu- larised cannabis, we keep on seeing a lot of people complaining about having individuals driving under the influence. Is it that big of a problem, or is it ampli- fied on social media? It is the same problem we have with alcohol. Alcohol is not illegal, but you still have people who drink and drive. There is an element of public safety which needs to be considered by drivers. But how big of a problem is it? When we were analysing traffic accidents, it resulted there was an issue and high incidence of people who were under the influence, and that is why we felt we needed to stream line drug testing. When interviewing the insurance association head, he had insisted on the same intensity of enforcement by the police all year round as there is during the fes- tive season. Is it possible, or you just don't have the resources to do it? Enforcement is carried out during the festive season, and even throughout the rest of the year. What happens is that we are more vocal in our message during that period as it is the time when there is a higher chance of abuse. But as the numbers show, we are carrying out more road checks and enforcement, and more people are being fined and charged over illegalities when driving.