Respect, always
Not even a serious incident such as the one that took place in Luqa on Tuesday has brought the country together.
Police officer Simon Schembri was hit by a 17-year-old driving a Mercedes after he flagged down the youth. The officer has had an arm amputated, suffered a collapsed lung and is still being treated at Mater Dei Hospital’s intensive care unit. The boy, Liam Debono, is now facing 22 charges, including one of attempted murder.
Instead of a chorus of condemnation following an incident which has left an experienced officer fighting for his life, we have had the usual idiots coming up with their own despicable comments about how people in authority – not only policemen – should be treated. Comments made on the social media by certain people have only served to show how this tool can be used to spread hatred, and it is good to note that the Courts of Law are taking such matters very seriously.
Then, to make matters worse, the incident
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soon turned political, with Labour supporters saying that the hatred being shown against the police was a result of how the Nationalists depicted the corps and its commissioner. Nationalist supporters replied by saying that Labour’s weakening of the country’s institutions contributed to the way people in authority are perceived.
To have one party – the PN – seeing the need to issue a statement that the incident should not be politicised, and for the other party – the PL – feeling the need to reply with a similar statement is proof that something is very wrong with this country.
It is a real pity that we always have to be divided, as a nation. The ‘us and them’ mentality pervades our society and not even something as horrible as the officer’s ordeal has led to a single, common approach. It is always ‘red against blue’, even when politics has nothing to do with it.
It must be remembered, first of all, that the health of the police officer injured comes first and foremost in all this. Unfortunately, this matter seems to have been overlooked by many in their haste to pin the blame on others.
The life of this policeman – along with that of his family – drastically changed that fateful Tuesday morning. This is what we should all think about. One good thing that has come of the incident is the fact that the various police organisations, which have had their fair share of differences in the past, have teamed up to organise a solidarity march that will be held this morning.
We really do hope that this will serve to bring back some of the respect towards the police – and other personnel employed to keep the country safe – which has, unfortunately, been lost. They are the ones we run to each time we find ourselves in difficulty, and they are the ones who risk their lives to protect us.
They deserve respect, always.