When Perry Isidore signed up as a recruit at the Regional Police Training Centre, he had no idea that he would be this year’s top recruit.The 6 ft 1 inch, 22-year-old, who said he always wanted to be a policeman, noted he was overwhelmed when the decision was announced on Monday. He was chosen from a class of 30 recruits who, this year, were all Barbadian.Isidore, a former student of St Alban’s and Coleridge & Parry School before he went on to the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, said from a young age he was fascinated by the job.“I was always fascinated by how the men looked in their uniforms and the respect that the public had for the officers,” he told the WEEKEND NATION.Isidore, of Bagatelle Land, St Thomas, said when he first joined he was hoping to get into the “top five recruits”, but to be actual top recruit was “like a bonus”.“It was overwhelming at first, but then there was that realisation that more would be expected of you,” the top recruit stated.That, however, does not faze him, because he intends to get down to the job and be the best he can be.Isidore admitted that at times the course proved challenging and there were doubts as to whether or not he would be successful, but with the encouragement of peers who helped to give him the extra push, he was able to make it to the end.He noted that one recruit even dropped out in the fifth week of the course.Isidore, who sees policing as a noble profession, said recruits took a packed course that gave the basic knowledge of everything needed for the job.Course modules included training in handling missing persons situations, traffic investigations, theft, robberies and burglaries. The recruits were also exposed to lectures on financial advice and sexually transmitted diseases.Asked what he thought about officers being caught on the wrong side of the law, Isidore stated: “Anytime you join the force you have to know that you have to set suitable standards for the people in the communities. Police [officers] are normal people too and if they do wrong, they have to be dealt with accordingly. Life is about decisions and whenever you make them, you have to be able to face the consequences,” he noted.Isidore said, however, he would still encourage youngsters to join the police force.“It’s a noble organisation and it’s not a job – it’s a career, it’s something you have to keep focused on,” he stated.Although he doesn’t know where he will stop in terms of rank, he does know he intends to go much further in the force.And what’s his pet peeve? – “Those persons who know they should do better, but do wrong, and when caught never want to admit responsibility for the deed. You should always take responsibility for what you have done,” he noted.
