Steps are being taken to fully incorporate the special constables into The Barbados Police Service.
Word of this came from Attorney General Dale Marshall as he addressed the 147 Passing Out Parade for police recruits from The Barbados Police Service, at the Regional Police Training Centre, on Wednesday.
Mr. Marshall said: “Already, steps are being taken to fully incorporate the special constables into the police service, …by making amendments to the Police Act, and those amendments are currently on my desk for my final sign-off and will be in Parliament within the next six weeks. We will also be looking at making sure that our hard-working Island Constables are not left behind.”
He stated that recruitment to the ranks of The Barbados Police Service has been a perennial problem, but the enhanced recruitment drive being undertaken has begun to bear fruit. He noted that the 55 individuals in this cohort was the largest passing out parade class in many years.
The Attorney General pointed out that a number of police officers had left the Service through retirement, resignation, medical discharge or sadly, death, as he disclosed that 33 officers had already left this year.
However, he said about 66 persons were currently being vetted for consideration for the Class of 148. “So we are making progress. I would like to use this occasion to invite eligible persons to consider a career in the Police Service. It is an uncommon job but one with great diversity and the opportunity to use various skills….
“The benefits are continually being adjusted and would be accelerated as the finances of the country permits. Let me assure you that as Attorney General, I am paying and will continue to pay special attention to the terms and conditions under which our police officers work in the service of our nation,” he stressed.
During his wide-ranging address, Mr. Marshall expressed the importance of police officers being coached more on how to use soft skills in appropriate circumstances. These skills, he proffered, were necessary to deescalate and mediate in contentious and volatile interactions between neighbours, and intra community disputes.
He continued: “I urge the Police Service, therefore, to continue to strengthen its relationship with the citizens of our nation at the community level. This outreach would signal that crime prevention and suppression is a shared responsibility between the police and the communities they serve. Further, it would hopefully build trust that would lead to an improvement in communications and interactions.”
The Attorney General encouraged the young police officers to maintain a standard of excellence. He expressed Government’s commitment to increasing training opportunities for all ranks of the police service, saying it must be done on a continuous basis throughout a police officer’s career.
“I do not need to tell you that policing now is not at all the same as it was decades ago. The criminal element has grown in sophistication, the crimes that now need to be added to your portfolio for investigations and interdiction are now cross-border and complex. But equally, the Barbadian public is also much more demanding and less tolerant than before,” AG Marshall said. The new police officers are expected to start work soon.