Saviour Chircop, a policeman who disarmed  a man whilst he was off-duty and out with his family, was given the Officer of the Year title this morning.

Chircop told local media that he was out with his wife and children when he came across a man who was about to attack another man with a knife. Despite being off-duty and also fearing for the safety of his family, Chircop stepped in and disarmed the man, according to a report by The Times of Malta. 

In all, eight members of the Police Corps were awarded certificates of merit.

Andrew Bugeja received a certificate after arresting a person who was damaging a parked car whilst off-duty. Carl Pace and Jurgen Borg were awarded the certificates of merit after saving the life of an elderly woman who was unresponsive. Officers Joseph Cutajar and Stephen John Cardona were awarded the certificates after saving the life of a foreign man in a construction site. Valhmor Medati was awarded for stopping a person from committing suicide. Steven Micallef was also awarded a certificate of merit for concluding investigations and for his work which resulted in two persons who undertook a variety of robberies, being arrested.