Clamouring for a chance

IT SAYS something when, amid the crime situation, thousands lined up, some before sunrise, for police recruitment on Friday.

Mere hours before, the country was rocked by yet another instance of gun violence, this time outside a gym.

The job of police officer is, increasingly, a job that comes with a price. Not only must officers make sacrifices, but they are also likely to come under fire from brazen criminals who are targeting law enforcement. A prison officer was killed on Thursday.

Notwithstanding, many potential recruits said they were applying because they want stable employment.

This is telling. The latest figures from the Central Bank suggest more people are finding jobs. The unemployment rate fell to just 3.7 per cent, or near full employment, in the second quarter of 2023.

However, official labour statistics do not differentiate between state-run make-work programmes and other employment. Nor do they disaggregate the public and private sectors. This can lead to a somewhat nebulous picture.

The throngs pictured in both north and south Trinidad on Friday suggest there is a great demand for better jobs, particularly from people who do not have tertiary qualifications.

Of course, many also gave the standard job-interview response when asked why they wanted the post, avowing that they wished to do something about crime in the country.

But another, perhaps more likely, motivation has to do with the fact that some are drawn to the adrenaline, power and status of being an officer, which comes with certain perks. Clearly, many still have a romance with the notion of becoming one of the men in blue.

And yet more nefarious intentions cannot be ruled out.

The large crowds underline the challenge of effective vetting and put focus on the need for the Government to swiftly implement the findings of the National Security Council (NSC)’s review of police laws in this regard.

While there is a policy mandate to increase the recruitment uptake, there has been little indication of how bad apples are to be weeded out. Current oversight arrangements for those in the system, involving the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) and, to a lesser extent, the Police Service Commission (PSC), leave a lot to be desired.

The Prime Minister has called for “vetted units.” We believe the NSC should drop that proposal altogether and focus on the screening of all recruits.

Currently, such recruits simply present a certificate of good character and undergo polygraph tests. But a certificate of good character, despite its name, simply confirms whether someone has a criminal record, and little else. And polygraph tests can be unreliable.

Meanwhile, many recruits do enter with a clean slate, only to be corrupted by police culture. Which is why the PCA’s watchdog role needs to be looked at more carefully.