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MT 27 May 2018

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17 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MAY 2018 five straight months, and I can tell you I did not learn anything there. Anyway, we are cur- rently fighting for a sectorial agreement and we are insisting that higher salaries are a must, across all grades, because even the wages for the higher grades are a joke. I am confident that an agreement will be reached. Is the prosecution a burden for officers? Definitely, especially for in- spectors. Instead of investing all his time in the investigation itself, one ends up worrying about the arraignment docu- ment, the compilation of evi- dence hearings, how to present the case and which witnesses to call. It is why I believe there should be an independent prosecution unit, with links to the police force. Let's face it, we would not be reinventing the wheel, this is what happens abroad. We've mentioned the duties of the police and the public's expectations. But two weeks ago, we were given a stark reminder of the risks the police face, when Constable Simon Schembri, a traffic policeman, was run over by a vehicle and grievously injured. That vehicle, a Mercedes E-Class, was being driven by a 17-year-old, who therefore had no driving licence and no insurance but who was already known to the police. How did that accident affect you and the Corps? I still get emotional when I think about it. On Tuesday, on his request, I went to visit him at the ICU and I found that he and his wife are still clinging to hope. But people need to understand that this had been waiting to happen and we've been saying this for a long time. The arrogance we face is out of this world. Everyone is like a cowboy. Go out in your car and you'll come across people who'll cuss you, others will re- act if you use your vehicle's horn, some will give you the finger … Overall there is no restraint. And I tie to what I said earlier. If you couple this atmosphere with continuous attacks on and criticism of the police force, we still have to face the public. And I repeat the Opposition has every right and duty to criticise any individual but still … they are making us powerless to face the people … Some have said the Opposition is to blame for the accident because of its criticism… No, that's wrong and no one can be held responsible in that regard. But if you keep pushing only one sentiment and argu- ment, you put everyone under one umbrella. But how is it possible that a 17-year-old was freely driving such a vehicle on our roads? We see this all the time, es- pecially since people like this would have been arraigned nu- merous times before on related charges. How many drivers under 18 do you reckon there are on the roads? There are many of them, a lot. And there also many driv- ers who are over 18 but who had their licence revoked. Back to the case at hand, I cannot and will never condemn the teenager himself but I do con- demn the act. Did you know he dragged the police constable along for 400 metres? I believe in the judicial system, in sus- pended sentences, conditional discharge and the other new procedures that have been in- troduced, but if you have some- one who breaks the law, breaks it again and again, over and over, justice must ultimately be served. You should take the teen … in this case, at 17, his li- cence is already suspended, but until when? Until he turns 18? What about the vehicles they own and drive? That's another thing. When you see this teen – and many others like him, I can assure you – driving these expensive and powerful cars … when we see the cases go nowhere, our morale takes a further hit, be- cause we work hard to bring some cases to court, but we see a lot of arrogance all around us. But if a policeman stops some- one driving without a seatbelt, you don't expect that driver to come out of the vehicle to at- tack you. What about that po- liceman who was punched in the mouth and had his teeth broken? Or the other who had his jaw broken and was eat- ing through a straw for three weeks? Another one was bit- ten and could not even kiss his loved ones while he got tested for any diseases… Which brings us to the question of insurance for police officers… I was the one who first brought up the need for in- surance, bodycams and other equipment. As I did with last week's solidarity march in Val- letta. How important was that event? It was great to see the soli- darity shown to the Corps, and not only by the country's top dignitaries and public figures, but also by the general public. Already I had mothers of po- lice officers coming up to me, telling me they didn't want their son working traffic duty any longer. But I told them, "No, we are police officers, we go down but we get up again." We do our duty but, with all due respect, we are paying a high price for it. That is why we need the insurance. We have spoken to the minister, and there is a lot of good will, even thanks to the input of the Prime Minister. The Opposition has every right and duty to criticise any individual but still… they are making us powerless to face the people…

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