Four recruits in the latest Police training class were pulled out of their courses and put on the beat when they failed to make the grade.

The officers have been posted to divisions across the Island and will be sent back to school with January's recruit class.

Police Commissioner Jean Jacques Lemay justified the move noting the Police Service was understaffed and the four recruits were suitable candidates despite their classroom shortcomings.

Before the last recruitment class, some 30 officers were needed to bring the service up to strength.

Only ten people applied for training and Mr. Lemay pointed out that if the four recruits were dismissed only six officers would have finally graduated -- leaving 24 positions still unfilled.

Halfway through the training course a male recruit was found to be having difficulty in meeting the necessary standards. The decision was made to pull him out of training and, rather than dismiss him, load him into the next training group in January where hopefully he would be successful. The recruit's honesty and integrity had determined that he was the sort of person the Police Service wanted to attract.

So he could get the help he needed to pass training, he was attached to Eastern Division where he is working with another officer who is coaching him through his problems so he will be able to get through the training process, said Mr. Lemay. Three female recruits encountered similar problems later in the training course and the decision was made to treat them in the same fashion that the male recruit was treated. They were assigned to various divisions where they, too, are working with other officers who are coaching them before they go back to school in January.

Mr. Lemay noted the four "basically have one chance left''.

And he said the development would not hamper the officers' progress as it was similar to the type of training received overseas.

There recruits would train for a period of time and then undertake a period of practical experience on the job before they returned to training again.

As for the future, he said: "This particular situation is an isolated incident. We hope we do not have to go through it again.'' However, the Service's staffing problem still has to be addressed. The lack of officers meant that in October some parish constables had to be pulled off their beats in order to make up numbers. "We are doing everything we can to attract Bermudians,'' said Mr. Lemay.

"We have a big recruiting drive on at the moment...and we are hoping to get some good results from all that work.

"We will have a new training class in the New Year and we are hoping to get 24 to 26 candidates. We certainly need to have our strength moved up.'' However, these recruits will need 15 weeks training before they graduate and Mr. Lemay said other short term solutions were being looked at by the Service and Government.

LEMAY -- Staff shortage