Members of the Opposition have rejected the move by the Commissioner of Police to expand the pool of potential new recruits in contravention of long-standing policy to limit eligibility to Caymanians and permanent residents.

The Opposition therefore called upon Acting Governor Franz Manderson to deny the request to extend the drive to recruit foreigners into the police force.

“Once again, the Government is making it difficult for Caymanians to secure employment in their own country,” Mr. Miller said, adding: “We reject the Commissioner’s rationale that transient groups in the community should have representation in the police force, particularly in view of the role of cultural awareness and knowledge in maintaining public safety and effective policing.”

This follows today’s announcement by Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne that applications had already been received from “82 suitable applicants”.

“We see no reason why this action would be necessary, given that they already have ‘82 suitable’ applicants for a class that is normally around 12 or 15,” Mr. Miller observed.

“It therefore should not be difficult” to select 15 from a pool of 82 to fill the class.

In fact, Mr. Miller recommended that the Commissioner looked to expand the class size to 25 to give more Caymanians the opportunity to serve in this important area of law enforcement in their own country.

Turning to the criteria for recruitment, Mr. Miller said that the current standards for recruitment included basic educational qualifications and background screening.

“If Commissioner Byrne wants to revise his recruitment criteria from the current educational standards and to review screening procedures and protocols, he is free to do so, but the basic nationality and residency requirement should not be tampered with,” Mr. Miller said.

“There is a reason that we have long limited recruitment to nationals and permanent residents and there is every reason that we should continue to maintain that basic standard.”

Chief among those reasons, Mr. Miller said, was the need for “strong relationships of mutual trust between police agencies and the communities they serve” and how that related to maintaining public safety and effective policing.

He and his colleagues, Mr. Miller said, were concerned that, in addition to strong potential of sidelining suitable Caymanians, and robbing them of the chance to service their country in the noble field of policing, bringing transients into the mix had the potential for negative impacts on the basic goals of any police service.