FOREWARD BY THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS

The strategic plan is a ruler which the Malta Police Force imposes upon itself. It is a ruler which measures its achievements and failures as any other police service may do. 

It is not simply a paper document. It has to be short and simple. It is better to be a short list of achievable goals than wishful thinking on paper. A really disciplined corps has to have a dynamic and not a static vision of its targets. The needs of the Malta Police Force change according to times and circumstances, however a Force without a plan - even if it is a flexible one - ends up being a Force without any direction. 

This is the second strategic plan for a determined period of time. In view of the fact that criminality in the world is becoming more transnational, sophisticated and professional, police operations have to be more organised and professional in order to meet future challenges.

The service which the Police is giving, is bearing fruit. The general public has trust in the Force. This trust should never be lost. In order to achieve this, the Malta Police Force should always be vigilant; above all, it has to be vigilant upon itself. The plan which is being published is not being imposed by anyone...but it has been prepared by the Force for itself. Therefore, the responsibility to see that it is accomplished, is greater.  

Tonio Borg
Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Justice and
Home Affairs

FOREWARD BY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE.

Five years have elapsed since we have committed ourselves to deliver feasible, achievable and realistic goals, objectives and strategies that take account of the political and legal environment, the prevailing societal values and the likely availability of our resources.

Speaking retroactively, in our first strategic process we have, in resonance with the ‘internal’ concerns of the Malta Police Force, attempted to give the following output:-

We have also attempted to give due importance to the articulation of the expectations and needs of the public to whom we owe a duty of service, trying to address popular concerns and building a relationship based on development and support. We have endeavoured to –

Although I feel confident that quite a good number of goals were achieved, while other objectives are in the offing, I have come to the conclusion that in integrating the various interest, concerns and pressures that make up the policing environment into a strategic framework, we have taken a step in the right direction. A continuum is therefore required. The need to address the longer term definitely has to remain.

Therefore for the coming two years, our strategic framework- which again focuses on the three strategic themes of  “motivating our staff”, “consolidating our fight against crime” and “improving community relationships”- will embark inter alia on training programmes, safer environments, assisting victims of crime, dealing with young offenders, effective patrolling and tackling environmental crime.

I am confident that every man and woman under my command will secure and deliver his/her necessary certification competencies to support this effort in our organization.

John Rizzo
Commissioner

INTRODUCTION

We will continue to work on the same key objectives and framework under which emerged a subordinate raft of strategies that took cognizance of our conditions, needs and resources for the past three years. We will ensure that we will continue to strive on the same “shape”, in order to give a sense of continuity and cohesiveness to the forthcoming package.

Therefore, for the coming three years – our strategic themes have been re-identified as follows –

Motivating our staff

Consolidating our fight against crime

Improving community relations

THE CONSULTATION PROCESS

It is true that just a person at the top of the hill can see more than those on the slopes, so the highest levels of the Malta Police Force, can see more of the total environment in which the police operate, and thus are able to better the position of the organization to confront the future. For the second consecutive time however, we have not adopted this strategy in order to write down the document.

We know that since policing is necessarily responsive to all its stakeholders, we have again turned to them for advice and feed-back.

We believe that strong links with the community and high levels of responsiveness to local needs provide a guarantee to both the police and the public. We acknowledge that a good policing organization should have an unobstructed gaze  of the people it serves, and to this end, it is most important that it develops and extend systematic liaison and consultation with the local community and its key representatives.

This we have done by re-commissioning in 2000, a private firm to carry out a survey of the general public’s perception of the service level and effectiveness of the Force. Rather than relying on misinformed rumors and myths and being in line with the requirement of UN General Assembly resolution 34/169 of 17 December 1979 that law enforcement  agencies should be “ representative of and responsive and accountable to the community as a whole”, our Strategy & Planning Division members have also approached representatives of  local councils in Malta and Gozo, not hesitating to be forth-right about our limitations as well as our potential, therefore enhancing two way information based on a shared reality.

Feed back from our own serving members – which was brought to fore by senior management officials during top management officials during top management meetings, was also taken into consideration in the drafting of this document.

MOTIVATING OUR STAFF

Key Objective 1: Personnel and Training

“To realize the potential of all members of the Malta Police Force in support of the Force’s Goal”.

Key Objective 2: Ameliorating working environment and equipment.

“Improving the working conditions of the members of the Force and providing them with modern equipment to facilitate their tasks”.

Key Objective 3: Creating a safer environment.

“Providing members of the Force with safety equipment to create a safer working environment”.

Key Objective 4: Partnership to build a safer community.

“To promote and provide innovative leadership for both the public and outside agencies in the implementation of crime and conflict redirection strategies”.

Key Objective 5: Dealing effectively with young offenders.

“To deal speedily and effectively with young offenders and to work with other agencies to reduce re-offending”.

Key Objective 6: Protecting the environment.

“Prioritising our fight against environmental crime and crimes against our national patrimony”.

Key Objective 7: Assisting victims of crime.

“To keep victims of crime informed of any developments in respect of their case, and assist them in retrieving their property”.

Key Objective 8: Patrolling Effectively.

“To improve high visibility patrol that will strengthen public confidence and trust, and when carefully targeted, makes people feel safe and keeps crime levels down”.

Key Objective 9: Facilitating communications with the public.

“To make better use of existing information technology, to improve communications with the general public”.

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