What do Malta police do during a roadblock?

During the first four months of 2023, police conducted over 425 road checks. One such check finished some 30 minutes before Kacey Sciberras, 17, was killed in a car crash on the same road.
Since then, road safety has been thrown into the spotlight. Daniel Tihn joined officers during one of their routine road checks.
At 10pm on a Friday evening in May, officers began filing into Inspector Jonathan Ransley’s office at the Sliema police station for their pre-briefing.
Out of the 13 officers present, most belonged to the Sliema district while officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit and K-9 Unit were also present for the evening’s stops.
During the briefing, Ransley explained how the operation would be carried out which, for that evening, would see officers park on Triq D’Argens for several hours as they checked out erratic drivers, possible cases of prostitution and all other contraventions.
The evening’s procedure was to create what Ransley described as “a slalom course”.
By parking three police cars on alternating sides of the road, traffic would be forced to slow down to weave between them, giving officers the opportunity to stop cars when needed, he said.
On the side of the street, a detention van waited for any belligerent or aggressive drivers who may not be willing to comply.