Minister Lane reviews police cadet programme proposal

Plans are afoot to establish a police cadet programme to expose young people to law enforcement and eventually help boost police numbers.

Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General with responsibility for Crime Prevention, Corey Lane, announced on Sunday that he was in the process of reviewing a proposal for a police cadet programme that would primarily be facilitated by The Barbados Police Service.

“It is something that I am looking to get behind because, as you would recognise, the Barbados Fire Service has a cadet programme, and they are connected with the Boys Scouts, and so on, so they have a steady feed of young people not only getting interested but getting early training in the field. And for years, you would have had the Barbados Cadet Corps, and they would have been feeding the Barbados Defence Force, and you never hear about a shortage there,” he said.

Lane was speaking about the proposed programme to the media on the sidelines of the Grand Opening of the Reggae Flava Restaurant Inc, Bayside Plaza, Bay Street, where the restaurant made a donation to the Police Boys and Girls Club, which is situated nearby.

The Minister stressed that a cadet programme would significantly benefit The Barbados Police Service which plays a significant role in society but is currently experiencing a shortage of manpower.

“And one of the things that I would like to see in terms of upping our numbers is really showing the attractive nature of the Police Service and what they do. They have a lot of different sections that a lot of people don’t recognise. The Police Service has the canine department, the horseback, and the band. There are so many sections to the Police Service.

“So, really and truly, it is to raise the profile of the Police Service, but also, I believe that a youth cadet programme would get young people interested from an early age and then help to filter them in and correct the shortage of numbers in the service,” Lane said.  (AH) ]]>