New police recruits to boost security

MORE than 140 recently graduated police constables have been deployed to shopping malls across the Eastern Cape to beef up security during the festive season.

The 142 constables were among the 4 941 students recruited into the police service across South Africa of whom 570 were sent to the Eastern Cape.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Sibongile Soci said that in Port Elizabeth, East London, Mthatha, Uitenhage and Queenstown the students had been deployed to malls and shopping areas while in GraaffReinet they had been deployed to various police stations.

Soci added that the deployments had also been extended to the rural areas of the province.

The deployment, which started yesterday, comes after the recruits completed the Basic Police Development Learning Programme last week at various training centres across the country.

“The newly trained constables will now be deployed at police stations throughout the country where they will be performing operational duties for 12 months. This forms part of practical, in-service training.

“The police management reviewed the previous training curriculum after conducting impact studies and benchmarking with regional and international standards.

“The new, intensified and specialised curriculum for basic training includes continuous practical and workplace exposure,” Soci added.

“The focus is on various aspects of policing which will equip the new recruits with the necessary skills to perform professional police duties.”

Soci said the workplace exposure was part of the back-tobasics approach which focuses on enhancing police visibility, ensuring efficient utilisation of resources for investigations, and the optimal use of crime intelligence.

Included in the new recruits’ training curriculum is crowd management training to equip the students with the knowledge to manage protest action.

Soci added that 142 students had been deployed in Nelson Mandela Bay, 40 in GraaffReinet, 278 in East London and 110 in Mthatha. —