BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWENTY-EIGHT vibrant young men and women began a six-month training programme designed to prepare them for induction into the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF).
The programme began on Monday (Nov. 1) with an opening ceremony at the RSCNPF’s Training Complex, Newtown, Basseterre.
The smartly attired recruits (24 men and four women) were welcomed to the beginning of their career as law-enforcement officers and were offered words of advice, which they were admonished to glean from, not only throughout the course of their training but also during their careers.
Commissioner of Police (Ag.) Stafford Liburd informed the trainees that they are entering the police force at a time when the organisation is “not enjoying its most popular time”.
He however encouraged the recruits to always “maintain your professionalism and have a standard that you can ensure that you assist in bringing back to the organisation what many in the public believe that we have lost”.
The soon-to-be full-fledged police officers were told that Commissioner of Police Austin Williams, Commissioner of Police (Ag) Liburd, Assistant Commissioners of Police Joseph Liburd, Joseph Richardson and Ian Queeley, as well as other gazetted officers were trained at that complex and Liburd.
The Acting COP noted that this contingent marks the 38th Recruit Course since the formation of the local police force, and suggested that they could be future members of the police hierarchy.
Minister of National Security the Hon. Sam T. Condor commended the recruits for answering the call to do their part in securing the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis.
Because the opening ceremony coincided with the official implementation date of the Value Added Tax (VAT) system in the Federation, the Minister took the opportunity to develop his own coinage and described the course as “Very Appropriate Training” and described the recruits as “Very Attentive Trainees”.
Condor informed the hopeful-police officers that “the training will not go the way you wish, but if you are to succeed you must endure to the end”. He also admonished them to be attentive and develop “strong discipline” during their course of training.
The training is expected to run for six months with a brief interruption during the Christmas period.
The contingent is comprised of one Haitian, one Guyanese and 26 nationals of St. Christopher and Nevis.
