Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud on Tuesday urged 143 new policemen and women to utilize the training they gained and make their fullest contribution wherever they are deployed.
Persaud was speaking at a Passing Out parade for the 143 and 40 special constables from various divisions who completed a number of recruit courses.
The parade was held at the Tactical Services Unit Square, Eve Leary under the theme ‘Forging ahead with Professionalism and Intelligence-Led Policing in Collaboration with Stakeholders’. The Top Cop told the recruits “There are times when things may be very hard and seem not to be working in your favour but just remember that the storm comes and the storm goes; there will be a calm after.”
While there are times when they may feel that there are better opportunities outside the force he urged them to think twice before leaving since there are many persons who left and want to return. “The rewards may not be very high but there are other rewards that you will get; as you go and deal with people you feel good about yourself,” he said.
He assured the new officers that as they go along the journey they will be exposed to more training. “Those that are more active are likely to benefit from more training. The competitiveness comes into play. The competitiveness I am talking about is not aggression against each other, it is co-operating, work in team work, and of course your own skills will come to the fore,” he said.
As the commissioner advised the graduates of the various challenges and issues they will face in the line of duty, he told them that the force today is far different from what it was years ago. “The force that I joined was a paramilitary organisation designed to respond to rules, regulations and orders and that we serve the interest…and we respond to units within the society we were created to serve,” Persaud explained.
He said, “The police force that we are embarking on now is one that is service oriented, where decision making has been decentralized right down to front line levels, one that is accountable not only collectively but individually so that the commissioner of police is called upon to be assessed and to report to a parliamentary oversight committee on security sector, that Divisional commanders every fortnight have to submit their report and come to a meeting where the commissioner holds them accountable for the resources under their command and the way they are using those resources to reach the objectives of the force,” he related.
He added that the force is now implementing team policing. “So tomorrow when you would be joining the sections to which you are (assigned) you will be joining teams of those police stations that has the responsibly to police geographic areas within the police station district and you along with members of those teams will be accountable for the work you do, for all of the policing functions within those communities for keeping those communities safe,” he said.
The commissioner also encouraged the new officers to participate in the various partnership programmes offered by the force. “So everyone accounts for their performance and that of course will be taken into consideration when opportunities arise in the force for incentives such as monetary awards and promotions,” he said.
Prizes were handed out to the outstanding graduates of each course. The best student awards went to Woman Constable 24173 Moore, Woman Constable 24200 Stuart, Woman Constable 24166 Loncke, Constable 24141 Gray, Constable 24215 Ramphaul, Woman Constable 24172 Monilall and Woman Constable 24393 Vanvield.
