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Bar raised for new police recruits

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2 December 2010

The South African Police Service is setting new standards for its recruits, including a longer and more intensive training programme, assessments by community policing forums, and a raft of background checks.

"The new recruitment drive is aimed at attracting young, energetic, patriotic and incorruptible South Africans who want to join the fight against crime in their country and local communities," Police Commissioner Bheki Cele said in Pretoria on Monday.

Cele acknowledged that the public perception of the South African Police Service (SAPS) had in the past been far from favourable, partly due to the poor quality of police officers.

"In fact it has been an acceptable phenomenon for [those who] fail in all walks of life to then join the SAPS," he said.

Intensive training programme

Some of the changes to the recruitment system include a more intensive training programme. Trainees will now undergo 12 months of basic training at the SAPS academy, instead of the previous six months of training.

The field training that recruits undergo at police stations has also been extended from six to 12 months.

Bearing in mind the extended training period, the monthly stipend for recruits will also increase with the new intake from the current R1 600 to R3 175.

Cele said spending more time at the academy would help improve the trainees' statement-taking skills, which was identified as one of the weaknesses in the current module.

In addition, a module will be dedicated to the history of SAPS, with the belief that it would instil "patriotism and loyalty" to the organisation.

Recruitment committees

A further change is that the process of recruiting trainees will be conducted by a committee instead of individuals, and that Community Policing Forums, religious groups and even schools will become involved in the screening process.

Cele explained that after selecting a potential trainee, the committee would canvas the views of the community, the person's school teachers and religious leader to determine if the person was SAPS material.

"The potential recruits will now be subjected to a raft of screening background checks, including compulsory rigorous vetting to avoid enlisting applicants with pending criminal cases," he said.

Vacant posts within the SAPS will also be advertised at station level instead of provincial level. This will be done to take into cognisance the different dynamics with the local station and in so doing address the needs of that particular station in fighting crime, Cele added.

Recruitment criteria

Cele also outlined other criteria, saying candidates must:

Be South African citizens;
Be 18 years and over, but not older than 30 years;
Be in possession of a Grade 12 or equivalent qualification;
Be able to read, write and speak two official languages, one of which must be English;
Be physically and mentally fit;
Fit the psychometric profile;
Have no criminal/departmental convictions or pending actions;
Have no visible tattoos; and
Be of sound and sober character.

Cele added that the need for a driver's licence had been done away with because it was found that a number of very good candidates, whose background did not allow them to have driver's licences, had been excluded.

New recruits would now be able to obtain their driver's licences as part of the extended training programme.

Source: BuaNews