Yet Another Ombudsman Probe Says 2016 Police Promotions Process Was A ‘Parody’
Malta’s ombudsman has again found that the process through which promotions within the police force back in 2016 were affected was vitiated and defective.
The probe by ombudsman Anthony Mifsud found that the selection process for the promotion of superintendents to the post of assistant commissioner was defective because former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, who had led the selection process, had chosen people on the basis of personal trust.
The probe was the result of a complaint filed by former superintendent Simon Galea. Similar complaints by two other police officers were similarly decided by the ombudsman.
According to the Times of Malta, in ruling on Galea’s complaint, the ombudsman said he could not understand how an officer entrusted with the force’s human resources, discipline and enforcement of regulations during his decades of service had received scores low enough for him not to make it through the selection process, while other with far less experience were promoted.
As happened with the previous cases, both Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa and Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri rejected the findings, as did the ministry’s permanent secretary Kevin Mahoney. They said that they did not agree with them and refused to implement the ombudsman’s recommendations.
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