Malta Police Association calls on POU president to end 'theatrics'

The General Workers’ Union should look into the shenanigans and behaviour of the president of its affiliate Police Officers Union (POU) and to curb his theatrics in front of cameras, according to the second union representing members of the force, the Malta Police Association (MPA).

In a statement, the MPA said Sandro Camilleri should spend less time in front of his webcam, “in what the public is describing as a new teleshopping programme”, and desist from creating a rift between the two unions.

The MPA, reacting to Camilleri’s claims of abuse and misappropriation in the Malta Police Fund cash collected through subscriptions, said that it recognised that bad practices needed to be tackled and that the auditor general should audit the fund.

It asked Camilleri why, after pushing himself to be nominated as a delegate of the MPA and who could therefore raise as many questions as he wanted and present motions for discussion, he never attended general conference meetings, as evident in the recorded minutes.

The union refuted Camilleri’s claims of misappropriation of money from the fund and insisted that the money collected was used to pay for half the presents given to children at Christmas, for legal services, to help members in dire financial need and for other items that were all accounted for.

It called on the police commissioner to ensure that all members of the police force fulfilled their obligations under law and that no union was discriminated against, in favour of another.