Police hopefuls want stable jobs

MORE than 1,000 young men turned up at the Police Barracks in St James on January 12 looking for employment with the TT Police Service (TTPS).

Officers on duty said some prospective applicants arrived for the recruitment drive from the night of January 11, and one applicant told Newsday he had arrived at 2.30 am on January 12. Most of the applicants said they arrived before sunrise.

They described the process as “smooth,” with many saying it was much better planned than the recent recruitment drive by the Prisons Service.

The majority said they were applying because they were seeking stable employment.

A 26-year-old man told Newsday he was recently retrenched and having experienced that, was looking for another job where that is unlikely to occur.

“I don’t ever want to have go through something like that again,” he said.

Many of the applicants who spoke with Newsday said while they had some concerns over the unsafe situations they might encounter as a police officer, they believed the police service would train them to deal with that possibility.

Several who had long hair said they were prepared to cut it if necessary to ensure they were accepted.

Applicants were pre-screened on January 12, with an entrance exam set to take place at a later date.

The police targeted male applicants in this recruitment drive.