| – close to 300 ranks to be added to strength soonThe Guyana Police Force has revealed that its training institutions are almost filled to capacityThe Guyana Police Force has revealed that its training institutions in the three counties are almost filled to capacity, as the organization moves closer towards fulfilling a mandate to increase its establishment by 1,500.The announcement comes in response to a letter in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News captioned: “GPF can probably learn from GDF in terms of attracting manpower” which speaks to recruitment by the Guyana Defence Force as a possible guide/lesson to the police.The Police were obviously offended by the missive, since it made the point that the Guyana Defence Force for some reason appears to be attracting a higher number of recruits.“Cognisant of an article captioned “GPF… which was written by one Patrick E. Mentore and published in the Kaieteur News of today Wednesday August 26, 2015, the Guyana Police Force wishes to state that whoever the writer is has penned the article out of a state of ignorance in that he is not aware of what is happening in the Police Force,NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale,” the police said in a statement yesterday.“The Guyana Police Force wishes to inform that our training institutions in Georgetown and Essequibo are presently filled to capacity. The other training institution at Adventure, Corentyne, Berbice, where renovations were recently completed,Air Max 97, now has a capacity of 60,” the police explainedFifty applicants at that location were sworn as members of the Force on Tuesday, while another eight will be sworn prior to the commencement of training which is scheduled for next Monday. These persons have been selected from a waiting list of 1,018 applicants who have been processed.The Force explained that its Training Programme is six months residential, and therefore only two batches can be accommodated yearly at the three training institutions.The overall capacity at the police training institutions is 330, which means that the Force can now churn out 660 recruits per year.However this has not been the case, despite the previous Cabinet giving the green light for the Force to increase its strength from 3,410 to 4,956.But while there is no definite timeframe for this to be realized, judging from the Force’s position earlier this year, it would appear that that initiative is no more than wishful thinking at this time.Although the force is boasting of the high number of recruits presently being trained, high-placed sources within the Police Force have indicated that with the low remuneration and the current rate of attrition, the aim of a permanent increase in the manpower strength of the organization from the current 3,410 to 4,956 could take years to achieve.“We are getting some good persons through the walk-in process. We are getting some people of good quality in terms of qualification,” one official disclosed.But the question of keeping those persons in the Force is a huge challenge, since according to the official; some people are just looking for a job as opposed to a career in the Guyana Police Force.“The question is if we could retain them,” he said.This view is shared by the letter-writer, who pointed to several inhibitors to quality recruitment, among which are budgetary constraints and a negative perception of the organization.But it is not that the Force is looking to recruit any and every applicant; the Force has a choice. It was explained that some applicants are refused entry into the organization for various reasons, including lack of fitness.At least two out of every 10 applicants do not make the cut. Some even drop out during the recruit training process.“Within a year we would get like about nine persons dropping out at the training school level. It is not that they don’t like the job, but some of them might not have been able to maintain the level of performance academically in the classroom, and with the level of discipline that is required of them,Nike NFL Jerseys China, they drop out,” the official explained.Remuneration is one area that certainly needs to be looked at. The lowest ranked policeman starts out with a monthly salary of $55,Wholesale MLB Jerseys,000. When deductions are made,Authentic Jerseys Cheap, the constable will take home about $45,000.Those who would have taken loans from the Police Co-operative Credit Union will find it even harder to eke out an honest living on their take home pay.“So where does that leave them? It’s either they leave the job for a better paying one, or you know what? They become prone to corruption,” another officer suggested.He is convinced that the current salary scale in the Police Force will pose a serious challenge to the recruitment plan.“You get these security firms that are popping up, especially in the mining sector, and that is kicking us, because they are paying much better than us. Our people are trained and all they (security firms) have to do is give them a gun and deploy them,” the officer stated.The upward revision of the numbers within the Force is in keeping with the demands of Guyana’s significantly changed security environment in the preservation of law, order and peace.This stems from an increase in population size and the accompanying development of new communities, an increase and frequent occurrences of social-economic activities, significant increases in the number of motor vehicles, and the accompanying expansion of the road network as well as significant opening up of Guyana’s interior regions.“It is not only bringing in the people, you know…you have to find accommodation for them. We have to look at expanding areas like Eccles,Cheap Soccer Jerseys, Parfait Harmonie and other considerations,” a senior official explained.But despite the shortage in terms of numbers, the force continues to shoot itself in the foot by wantonly transferring ranks to the Juvenile Holding Centre in Sophia where there is nothing to do in terms of police work.Kaieteur News understands that the facility is grossly overstaffed by ranks who have had run-ins with the force administration. |
