I had a picture somewhere of the police officers on duty in Paceville all gathered together right outside the McDonald’s building, but I couldn’t find it. So, instead, I am making use of this still from a Times of Malta footage with some police officers lined up in front of the Havanna club – the place where most of the brutal fights in Paceville occur. The police officers, all young recruits who are not in any way in shape or form to be handling fights in Paceville, had probably lined up themselves on that particular day to be filmed accordingly.
It’s only occasional that there are police officers on standby in front of the Havanna Club, and most of them would be hiding with their colleagues in front of the Burger King building in fear they would get hit during a fight. I don’t blame them. These young recruits are expected to be fighting tough muscle-like guys who work for shady club owners, who frequently are reported to brutalise people in Paceville. It’s quite sad and very damning of Angelo Gafa’s incompetence, that a clique of club owners can rule a small pedestrianised strip in Paceville, launder their money with fake strip clubs, and brutalize patrons with their muscled guys at the door.
Let’s be very clear. These muscled guys are not fit and proper to be bouncing people in clubs – many of them are in the service of criminal organizations that use muscle for the wrong and illegal reasons. They and their club-owning employers have been allowed impunity for years on end despite the obvious criminality and money laundering that goes on in this area.
Taking control of Paceville and stopping once and for all the criminality in the area should have been the easiest task for Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa. In Paceville’s case, the police are dealing with unsophisticated crime and the criminal vice of local nightlife. The Police Commissioner can’t even get the basics right.
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