'Intensive' investigations into TM bomb blast, Baldacchino murder - John Rizzo

Speaking on Radio Malta, Police Commissioner John Rizzo stressed that the police force is doing its utmost to solve these two cases, that remain the major two unsolved cases for 2010.

Without entering into the merits of the criminal case against former Inspector David Gatt who stands charged with organised crime, John Rizzo said that vetting of recruits is continuous, but is not infallible, as policemen are people, and “bad company could lead to some slipping out of the net.”

He argued that Gatt had been out of the force for the last ten years, but added that it is impossible to predict changes in peoples characters and way of life.

“What I can say is that there is absolutely no room for rotten apples in my force,” the Police Commissioner said, adding that since he took over the force ten years ago, “many policemen were shown the door because their behaviour was not befitting the uniform their wore.”

With a compliment of 1,920 officers, almost one in every five are women, making the police force the biggest public entity that employs women in the country.

However, while stressing the importance of women on the force, the Commissioner explained that women also pose a challenge to the administration of the force, given that as they go along, they rightly ask for maternity leave, reduced hours and lighter duties.

“I don’t want to be misinterpreted at all, but women do pose a challenge for the police force, and we do our best to accommodate their needs, and never discriminate. Policing was never exclusively a man’s job, and women do much better than men in many sections of the force, but what I mean to say is that when we lose women officers to pregnancy, we feel the void in the places they occupied,” Rizzo said.

While stressing that the force “makes miracles” with the financial budget that is allotted to it by central government, John Rizzo said that over the past years, not only the image of the force has improved, but he has ensured that the right investment is made to keep his officers protected.

With over 100 officers within the mobile squad, every one of them now has a bullet proof vest, while at least four vests are available for officers inside police stations.

The force has also introduced, taser guns and pepper spray that have become standard issue for all officers.