Cabinet has approved the absorption of 800 Special Reserve Police (SRP) officers into the regular Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
This was revealed by Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander during Thursday evening’s Post-Cabinet Media Briefing.
The absorption, he said, will help alleviate the TTPS’s current shortfall of over 1,100 officers.
The decision includes a waiver of certain academic requirements traditionally needed for entry into the regular service. However, Minister Alexander assured that the officers being absorbed are already trained and active in the field.
“This waiver of mandatory academic and required entry into the TTPS is to facilitate the shortfall of over 1,154 vacancies that presently exist. At this time, the government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is looking at all options available to it for the protection of our citizens.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Legal Affairs, Saddam Hosein, outlined the policy shift as a fulfilment of a campaign promise and a strategic move to address a critical manpower shortage in the Police Service.
He added that SRP officers have long performed duties equivalent to their regular counterparts but have been compensated and “treated differently.”
“That these officers perform almost the same or identical job as the regular officers but they are paid differently, and that is something that we want to correct as an administration. It will also increase the motivation of these officers because this is something that they have called for, for many years. So we are happy to bring such good news to the men and women in uniform of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service that for the last 10 years that they are now going to be treated in a fair and equitable manner under this Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led administration.”