Saturday February 2nd, 2019 marked the historical and first ever, Passing Out Parade consisting of only Municipal Police Constables at the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Training Academy in St James.
The Honourable Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Senator Haji Kazim Hosein was proud to congratulate 199 new Municipal Police Constables. The Minister in his feature address reminded the new officers that service to God is service to mankind. He urged them to always serve Trinidad and Tobago with pride and distinction. He took the opportunity to remind guests that this initiative was the brainchild of the Honourable Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley as the Prime Minister mandated that a strong police presence be seen throughout every town centre in the country on entering government in 2015. The aim is to train and deploy 1500 municipal police officers on the streets to ensure that citizens feel that sense of safety as they conduct their daily activities. Today that mandate has started to come to fruition with the passing out parade for the first batch of 2018. The next batch will begin training on February 14, 2019.
Minister Hosein also reminded the Constables, that they all had two ears and one mouth, which means, while in the course of their duty they should be mindful to listen more and talk less; to be motivated, show commitment to service and professionalism as they interacted with the public. He asked them to always remember how much pride they felt as they paraded before family and friends today and to carry that respect and pride in their daily duty. He also commended the Commissioner of Police, Captain Gary Griffith for being a role model to all the Officers and every patriotic citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Honourable Minister of National Security, Stuart Young and Commissioner of Police, Captain Gary Griffith were also in attendance to take the salute along with Minister Kazim Hosein. They both reiterated the beliefs of Minister Hosein who urged the graduates to serve their country with honesty and warned them to be weary of corruption and corrupt practices. They were advised to never abuse their authority nor contribute to any activity that would bring the Municipal Police Service into disrepute.