11 new constables and 3 auxiliaries are among the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force’s new officers as of yesterday Monday August 16.
This was confirmed by the RVIPF who said the new officers were all sworn in by Commissioner of Police Mark Collins.
According to the Force, these 14 new officers will be joining with four other serving auxiliary officers to form the fifth cohort of locally trained police officers. The four auxiliary officers will complete the training to become constables.
“Each of the new recruits separately gave their oath of allegiance at Police Headquarters in the presence of the Commissioner, Acting Deputy Commissioner Jacqueline Vanterpool and Superintendent St. Clair Amory. The group subsequently assembled outside for first instructions from the Commissioner,” the RVIPF stated.
“The new recruitment class is made up of eight Virgin Islanders or those deemed to belong and six from various Caribbean countries with the same number of males as females. Two of the recruits were former cadets of the V.I. Cadet Corps. Three are training to be auxiliary officers,” the RVIPF added.
The Police Force further said that all 18 officers will begin a challenging six-month basic police training programme with early morning exercises and full days of class instruction. The training curriculum will cover the foundation of policing in both theory and practice and include all aspects of law enforcement.
These lectures will be held at the Marine Centre of the H.L Stoutt Community College and all in-class instruction will be coordinated by Inspector Beverly James.