After Several Public Brawls, Malta’s Community Policing Project To Be Rolled Out Nationwide By 2023
Over the last month, the relatively peaceful island of Malta saw a number of street fights erupt, many of them captured on camera and shared in WhatsApp groups and between friends.
Some saw police showing up shortly after the fights have ended, others saw investigations opened, while others saw no reports made at all.
Malta’s police force has expanded its community policing over recent years – but more needs to be done, as a Home Affairs Ministry spokesperson told Lovin Malta.
“It is always regrettable when violent fights break out in the streets of our localities and all efforts are being made by the police to ensure that they do not occur,” the Home Affairs Ministry said.
“We’ve always advocated for a greater police presence on the ground,” they continued. “The extension of the community policing project to more localities, twenty so far, is a testament to this policy as more police officers are patrolling in our neighbourhoods.
Numbers-wise, there’s never been more patrolling police than ever before; then again, there has never been as many people, be they local or foreign, living in Malta at one time.
“It must be clearly stated that today’s police presence is far greater than it was in the past. In fact, it has been proven that the increased police presence of police in the streets has not only led to more trust but also more work being done, and more people being assisted,” they said, referring to successful rollouts in localities such as Mellieħa.
However, with COVID-19 mitigation measures slowly being phased out and people returning to the outside world this summer, the chances of further brawls erupting continues to increase – something the ministry was already working on and plans on addressing by widening police patrols.
“In the coming months, the community policing project will also be introduced in other localities as the ministry aims to extend the project nationwide by 2023,” they ended.
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