Police officers will take to the streets of Valletta this Saturday in a historic rally following yesterday’s grievous hit-and-run incident on officer Simon Schembri. 

Announcing the rally on Net TV, Police Officers’ Union president Sandro Camilleri warned that what happened to Schembri was by no means an isolated incident and that, on average, a police officer is sent to Mater Dei for treatment every single week.

“The situation for police officers has become ridiculous,” Camilleri said. “We are witnessing a rise in arrogance across Maltese society. Everybody wants to curse and offend nowadays, and you can’t even honk your horn without someone coming out of their car to attack you. This doesn’t only impact police officers, but we experience this on a daily basis.”

Camilleri said that police officers must be paid higher salaries and equipped with body cams and that the law must provide effective prison sentences for people who assault police officers. 

He also called on the police’s Cyber Crime Unit to investigate a slew of “racist” Facebook comments that were aired at the police force in the wake of yesterday’s hit-and-run.  

“Some of the insults and offences I’ve read are unbelievable, some even said that [Simon Schembri] deserved to be run over a second time,” Camilleri said. “You wouldn’t even talk to a dog that way. These comments are racist and constitute an abusive use of electronic equipment and should be investigated.”

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]