Wilkinson named top recruit

Nineteen young individuals pushed through an intense training session to be able to successfully graduate as the 143rd cohort of the Royal Barbados Police Force, but young Dale-Lan Wilkinson was the one recruit who took home the coveted prize of Best Recruit.

Among the other eight awards that Wilkson took home, she was awarded the Commandant’s Trophy and the Insurance Management and Professional Services Limited trophy for Most Outstanding Student.

During the Passing Out Parade that took place Wednesday evening, Commandant, John Maxwell explained that for the last 30 weeks, the recruits were exposed to a rigorous training programme that sought to build a foundation to prepare them for the work of policing.

He stated that on top of the physical training that was built towards building endurance and stamina, the academic aspect of the training was just as rigorous and demanding, as they covered 21 modules, including Psychology, Sociology of Crime, Police Duties, Human Rights, and Constitutional Law and Ethics, to name a few.

He went on to advise the new members of the Force to remember that on every occasion they come into contact with the public, they are being assessed and measured.

“Therefore, it is imperative that you be professional, courteous and provide the best possible quality service. The RBPF is a serviced oriented organisation and if we fail to provide our customers with quality service then we have not delivered on our mandate,” he said.
Commissioner of Police and Director of Training, Tyrone Griffith also advised the graduates to work with the media.

“Do not regard the media as invariably hostile, working with them can help to build good relationships; remember that media can help you, they can pass information to public and in doing so help to avoid panic,” he said.

In this regard, he also advised media to respect and work with members of the Force.

He commended the graduating students for “answering the call” as he believed that there was no better way to serve the nation, and commended them for making the choice, staying the course and successfully completing their training. (CLF)