From RCIPS

The twenty-four new local recruits who make up the second RCIPS Recruit Class of 2019 are now six weeks into their initial recruit training. The class consists of twelve women and twelve men, ranging in age from 19 to 41, and also includes seven former auxiliary constables who are making the transition to police constable. Nine members of the class are Caymanian; all the new recruits were sworn in on Monday, 3 June, in a ceremony led by members of the RCIPS Senior Command Team.

The recruits were chosen following a local recruitment drive which concluded last August. After confirmation of minimum qualifications and passage of a written exam, interview, fitness test and vetting, candidates were offered places in the recruit class. Twenty-three of those candidates formed the initial RCIPS Recruit Class of 2019, which graduated to operational duty in May, and the current group of twenty-four was chosen from the same pool.

“Being able to graduate two classes of over twenty recruits in the same year is a great achievement and will be an enormous boost to the service as we seek to bolster our ranks and add fresh ideas and more local perspective to the organization,” said Derek Byrne, Commissioner of Police.

“In addition to graduating more recruits in a single year than we have done in years past, we will also be graduating more Caymanians and more women,” added Commissioner Byrne.  “The increased gender diversity that this will bring to the organization is important as we strive to accurately reflect the population that we serve. We look forward to their long and fruitful careers as they serve their communities and the Cayman Islands.”

The recruits are now a little less than halfway through their 17-week intensive training course and those who pass the course will graduate to operational duty in September and then progress to on-the-job training during a two-year probationary period. At the end of their probation, these new officers can be posted to units as diverse as criminal investigation, traffic, air operations, financial crime, family support, or the K-9 unit, based on operational needs and priorities.