In the next few weeks, 190 new police recruits are going into the Police Training Academy in Belmopan. They were chosen from as many as two thousand applicants who recently took an admission exam.
But, what will they learn there, and will it be enough? Typically, intakes of recruits spend three to six months in the Academy - and from what we've seen of police performance in public, it's really not enough to create a culture of professionalism.
That's why we got alarmed when the Commissioner said that this intake would only spend three months(!) at the academy. He explained that he wants them to learn in the field:...
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We are looking at 190 and the training for them will be three months. We are trying to replicate what we saw in Jamaica where the recruits undergo training for three months and then they go out in the field to do to practical for another six months."
Reporter
"You and I know that what happens out there in the fields a lot of times leaves much to be desired. Its a discipline force, but the officers have resources at their disposal and they have autonomy and sometimes they operate with impunity. How do you curtail that type of behavior and exposing young recruits to their training days being days observe in witnessing other officers exploiting their office for advantage, drinking on the job - that sort of thing?"
Chester Williams
"We hope that the persons who will be selected will be persons who will be strong enough to not succumb to what they see senior members doing but I will like to add that when they leave the academy they go into the hands of a field training officers. Field training officers will then be the ones who will guide the recruits and these are officers who have been brought to academy and trained in the area of being a field training officer."
Williams said the new intake could go in as early as mid-month, but certainly before the end for the month. There are currently between 2100 and 2300 police officers in the Department.
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