‘Amateurish’ Police video pulled offline due to ‘non-factual information’ – Ministry

A video production by the Malta Police Force was pulled offline because it was deemed “amateurish”, “bad to the country’s corporate image” and “non-factual”.

The video targeting foreign students was wholly directed and produced by the Police and featured Superintendent Sharon Tanti warning students against the dangers of excessive alcohol drinking, jumping from heights, parading in bikinis and skinny dipping.

It also featured a staged tragedy at Comino of a student dying after hitting the rocks – a tragedy that has fortunately never occurred.

Not necessarily for the right reasons, the video received over 60,000 views. It was taken offline yesterday on orders of the Home Affairs Ministry which was not involved in the making of the video.

“Contrary to other videos, this one didn’t enjoy the ministry’s approval,” Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit said when contacted.

According to the Police Commissioner, the video was produced together with the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (FELTOM), the Ministry of Education and the Malta Tourism Association.

He praised the police officers’ effort in producing the video as similar videos had been produced abroad.

The chief of Police conceded that there might be a number of shortcomings: “After all it was produced by us with the limited equipment we have available.”

As to what will happen to the video now is still an open story, Zammit added.

“The work carried out on the video was appreciated even though it might have not been up to standard. We will look at the shortcomings… maybe it was too long… but there is room for improvement. And if we are going to improve it, well good luck for everyone involved,” he said.

But the length of the video – seven minutes – was not the only problem. Wrong editing, bad use of English and dramatised events sent government officials through the roof, worried that the video would actually scare people away.

The cherry on the cake, sources said, was that the Police had to stage a death at Comino because such a tragedy never occurred. The video featured a young man splayed on a rock with fake blood supposedly gushing out: “We have had spinal injuries… but thankfully we never had such a tragedy. With all the good intentions, the video sent the wrong message about Malta.”

According to MTA sources, the Authority’s leadership was not informed about the video. 

Home Affairs chief of staff Silvio Scerri confirmed the video was taken offline on government’s advise. It is however still available on TV Presenter John Bundy's YouTube page.

“It was too dramatised. Moreover, the production is not professional and this impact the corporate image of the country. We have a department at PBS that focuses on drama who would be the most suitable to perform such a job,” Scerri said.

He added that informative videos should be based on facts and not on what could happen.

Meanwhile, government has already started working on professional videos promoting the works of the Police Force and the Armed Forces of Malta.