Policemen should have a ‘vocation’ for the job

Police Academy commandant has been a member of the Malta Police Force since 1975, when he became a constable in the Zejtun police station. As the commandant of the new police academy, he encouraged youths to seek a career within the police force, so long as they have the passion for it.

“If you look at a police career as a vocation, you will feel satisfied with what you do,” Cachia told Sunday newspaper ILLUM. “Imagine ending a day at work, going home and saying ‘Today I helped Mister X because I made his life a bit easier’. Giving out citations is help as well, because you would be teaching him after he’d have broken the law. However, there are ways and there are ways to speak to people who broke the law.”

The Academy gives recruits physical, as well as academic training. They are given lessons in law and police conduct, such as how to protect clients, and how to react to cases of domestic and social violence.

“We also teach the Academy recruits that the way policemen speak to people is important and that wearing a police uniform doesn’t give you an advantage but a responsibility.,” Cachia said.

“If the law gives you the ability to use force, you are responsible for only using it when it is absolutely necessary,” Cachia said. “If you act like a ‘Rambo’, there will be consequences.”