‘We Are Not Robots’: Malta Police Union Warns Of Major Officer Exodus As It Issues 11 Directives
Police officers have been ordered by their union to follow 11 directives, including not to check their emails after duty and not to charge police devices at home, as part of an ongoing dispute about work conditions in the force.
The Malta Police Union announced today it is registering a dispute against Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa after he implemented policies that limit the amount of overtime and extra duty payments that officers can receive.
The union warned that these policies have been issued at a time of “total demotivation” within the police force, including a serious staff shortage problem that has seen over 300 officers leave in the past 18 months.
As of tomorrow, the following directives will be in force for members of the Malta Police Union:
1. Officers can wear their police-issued baseball cap
2. Officers can wear their police-issued T-Shirt for all duties (except Court and Tribunal), together with their police identification tag
3. Officers won’t perform fixed duties with barriers during feasts and events
4. Officers will only accept reports which occurred in the district they are working in
5. Officers who are summoned by the Professional Standards Unit in cases of internal discipline mustn’t reply to any question, either directly or indirectly
6. Officers mustn’t submit any statement of facts when requested by their superior, expect when this is to be entered into the NPS report as part of an investigation
7. Officers mustn’t collect any application of any nature or subject from Servizz.gov
8. Officers mustn’t charge any police-issued equipment, including mobile phones, radios and torches, at home
9. When terminating their duty, officers must activate the ‘Out of Office’ reply and not check any emails or Facebook messages when not on active duty, or demand to be paid overtime for doing so
10. Officers mustn’t check any system that accepts online reports or enter any reports received via email or any other system
11. Officers must ignore any tickets or charges quota requests issued by their superiors and mustn’t submit any tickets/ charges return.
“Members of the Police Force are not robots which can be managed by an Excel sheet, with orders issued en-masse without taking any care to the human and personal aspect of same officers,” the union said.
“The union will take action on a personal level against anyone who threatens our members, directly or indirectly not to follow union directives, or punishes or discriminates against our members by giving them duties where these are ‘hidden’ to make the situation seem as normal as possible.”
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