Police Cadet Program: Free College Tuition
The Bermuda Police Service [BPS] today held a press conference to highlight the success of their Police Cadet Programme, which offers college tuition of up to $20,000 a year paid in exchange for five years service on the force.
It has been in existence since the early 1960’s and suffered a brief hiatus in 1997 when it was discontinued for a number of reasons including financial constraints. In February 2000 funding was secured and the programme was reinstated. In 2005 the BPS received Government’s support and funding to expand the cadet programme to include the Further Education Program, which enables qualified young Bermudians to receive substantial funding for tertiary education at the Bachelors’ Degree level.
There are currently eight serving cadets, five of which are female. When questioned over the high female to male ratio, the Commissioner said they aren’t having a problem recruiting males per se, but went on to say that they are always in “recruitment mode” for police officers.
Seven of the cadets are working toward their Associates Degree at the Bermuda College, and one is currently enrolled in a Bachelors degree program at the University of Tampa.
There are seperate phases of the program, with one including being able to get $20,000 for up to three years to obtain Bachelors Degree, and in return the recipient must spend five years on the BPS on completion of their Bachelors Degree.
Minister Burch was in attendance, and called his task today “one of the more pleasant tasks” he has as a Minister.
Pictured below is Minister of Public Safety Colonel David Burch, Sergeant Fiona Miller and Commissioner of Police Michael DeSilva:
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The cadet class:
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The BPS highlighted three successful cadets at different stages of the program:
Detective Derek Golding (24 yrs old)
Joined BPS as a Cadet in 2004, graduated with Associates Degree in Business Administration from Bermuda College in 2005, graduated from Acadia University in Nova Scotia in 2008. He graduated from Recruit Foundation training November 2008 with the Baton of Honour and commenced general police duties, and is currently posted to the Criminal Intelligence Unit at Hamilton Police Station.
Constable Kristyn Minors (23 yrs)
Joined BPS as a cadet in 2004, graduated with Associates Degree in Computer Information Systems from Bermuda College in 2007, graduated with BA in Information Technology Networking from New England Institute of Technology, Rhode Island in May 2010, where she had the distinction of being on the Dean’s List every semester during the entire 3 years. As of April 2010, she is attached to BPS Technology Department and is waiting to attend the next available recruit foundation course.
Cadet Stephen Dill (21 yrs)
Joined BPS as a cadet in 2007, graduated with an Associates Degree (Honours) from Bermuda College in 2009, and was accepted at the University of Tampa (as a junior) and is working towards BSc in Accounting.
Pictured below, left to right: Detective Golding, Constable Minors, and Cadet Dill:
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To be eligible for the initial program, one must be 16-21 years old on admission to program, have a High School certificate or GED, be enrolled in at least an Associates Degree program at the Bermuda College, and be in good physical and mental health. To find out more information about taking advantage of this program, contact Sergeant Fiona Miller at 295-0011.
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Good work there Bernews.