29 undergo police training
In a move to beef up the police force on the island-municipalities of Saipan, Rota and Tinian, some 29 young men and women yesterday began their four-month rigid police training under the 16th Police Academy.
The training, which cost $250,000, will include classes on self-defense, constitutional law, criminal law, life saving skills in swimming, crime prevention and alternative dispute solution.
Public Safety Commissioner Charles Ingram immediately warned the trainees that they might find police work a bit boring too. “It is five percent action and 95 percent boredom,” he said. This covers report writing, maintenance of equipment, public relations and carrying out a lot of administrative job.
But 21-year-old Tricia Manglona from Rota said she is just too excited to attend the training and become a full-fledged policewoman since she has been studying criminal justice in college.
It is the challenge of the profession that attracted Charlotte Palacios and Cecilia Taitano, who both have several members of their families in the police force.
According to Clyde Norita, DPS assistant chief of the Office of Special Services, the salaries of future policemen will be funded by federal program, which seeks to strengthen community police work.
“They will not do administrative work, they will go out in the field to increase our exposure in the field,” said Norita.
With the increase in burglary incidents on the island, there is a need to assign more police patrol in every village, he said. When the trainees graduate on Dec. 17, a new batch will undergo training in January.
After all, Norita said crime prevention is much cheaper than carrying out months of investigation and later on placing people behind bars.
