Raphael Vassallo

Malta is experiencing an epidemic of violent robberies and spectacular hold-ups, as the number of experienced police officers has declined due to plummeting morale, Labour MP Dr Gavin Gulia warned yesterday.
Even as the shadow home affairs minister issued his starkly worded statement, the gunpowder residue had scarcely settled from yesterday’s shoot out in Balzan – in which a 25-year-old man from Bormla had to be hospitalised for gunshot wounds after an argument in St Francis Street.
On 30 November, a gang of armed and hooded robbers, believed to be Maltese, made off with over €1 million and Lm70,000 in cash after a daring heist at the HSBC branch in Balzan. On the same day, a shot was fired, without injury, during a botched robbery in a San Gwann pet shop. Another shop, this time in Gzira, was also held up yesterday by hooded, armed robbers – the fourth such robbery in recent weeks, after similar hold ups took place in Mosta, Valletta and Swieqi, all involving firearms.
According to Gulia, this apparent increase in gun-related crime corresponds to a drop in the number of experienced police officers, and a general decline in corps morale.
“It is symptomatic that over the last years a record number of experienced policemen have left the force because they feel demoralised. These are being replaced with newly signed-up members, who naturally will need a lot of time to acquire the necessary experience.”
In the past three years, the capital allotment to the Force has been reduced by Lm150,000. Police officers are also expected to sacrifice their off-duty days to serve as sentries at all HSBC branches in Malta and Gozo – a surefire sign, Gulia argues, that Malta’s foremost crime-fighting force lacks the necessary resources to keep up with the country’s security exigencies.