The Malta Independent on Sunday
PN says police corps ‘continues to degenerate’ after cops caught with cocaine
The news that three police officers had been caught with illicit drugs continues to expose a police corps that is in disarray, the Nationalist Party said yesterday.
The police force has been caught up in three scandals in these first few days of 2018, according to PN Home Affairs spokesman Beppe Fenech Adami: Assistant Commissioner Mario Tonna was forced to resign after a domestic violence report filed by his partner.; this was followed by the declaration made by Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia, who justified Tonna’s actions by saying that the officer worked long hours. The latest scandal was that three officers have been caught with illicit substances. Fenech Adami said that that the disastrous state of the police corps is a result of decisions taken by the Prime Minister and the Police Commissioner. The removal of the proviso that new police officers must have a clean police record has opened up the corps to 47 offi- cers who had been involved in criminal activities in the past.
The PN said that the good work of most police officers is being tarnished by such behaviour.
It was reported yesterday that three police officers had been suspended and are to be arraigned in court after being caught in possession of cocaine at a nightclub in Paceville during a raid by the drug squad a few days before Christmas. The officers were reported to have been off-duty at the time of the raid.
One of the officers was a new recruit who was only about a week into the job.
In reply, the Home Affairs Ministry said that the fact that police officers were caught breaking the law by their colleagues shows that the police corps is doing its duty. The Opposition promised a new way of doing politics but it has remained negative and destructive, likely because people like Beppe Fenech Adami hold more power than their colleagues. Fenech Adami and former leader Simon Busuttil seem to think that all police officers are corrupt, the government said.
The government said it believes in the work of the police and that the force will continue to weed out the bad elements within. In the case of Mario Tonna, it said investigations are being carried out and criminal procedures will be taken if necessary. The police officers caught with drugs have been suspended and their case has been referred to the Public Service Commission, while the case is also being investigated and could lead to legal action, the government said.