The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

CORRECTIONS Commissioner Doan Cleare warned female recruits yesterday that one misstep could swiftly cost them their jobs, while saying he would try to “massage” struggling male recruits into line because qualified men are in short supply.

“Now, females in the squad, the first one of you mess up or do wrong, I gonna let you go, and you know why, because we have an abundance of you, too much,” he said.

“Our waiting list now is over 400 females trying to get in here, but it is the males who I will try to massage, wash your toes, and wash your feet to try to get you in line, but if you do fool, we still gon’ let you go.”

Commissioner Cleare made the remarks yesterday during the signing-on ceremony for the 81st cohort of Squad A, saying the department fell short of its recruitment target despite searching nationwide for qualified applicants.

The new squad includes 38 women, though the department can accept two more, and about 41 men. Commissioner Cleare said seven additional recruits are expected to join this week, but the department will still be 12 men short of its target.

He said the department originally planned a recruit class of 70 men and 30 women, but adjusted the ratio to 60 men and 40 women after his hands were “twisted and chopped”.

He said women now appear to be meeting the necessary requirements, but he stressed that uniformed branches still need more men.

“It's nothing to say that women cannot do the job, but still, you need that male factor in the uniform branches and right now it is difficult,” he said. “My team and I, we traversed every single island in The Bahamas looking for qualified persons, and still we couldn’t find 100 persons to fill the ranks.”

He said many applicants try to enter the department with only two or three Bahamas Junior Certificate passes, falling short of the minimum requirement of five BJC passes.

He warned recruits not to risk suspension and urged them to behave properly.

“In fact, I was advised to let one go today, but we'll see how the spirit moves,” he said. “The spirit says dismiss, bro, you gone. That’s just the way it is.”

Commissioner Cleare said the shortage of qualified male recruits reflects problems in schooling and training. He applauded parents who ensured their sons received a proper education.

He said the decline in available male recruits became noticeable around 2012 and 2013. By 2021, he said, he learned that other uniformed services, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force, were facing similar recruitment challenges.

On the sidelines of the ceremony, he linked the shortage of qualified men to educational and social challenges, particularly in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

“It's difficult to say, but I'll tell you, me growing up in school on the Family Island, a lot of males, they were were eager to learn, and we were focused, but it’s New Providence and Grand Bahama that has the challenges,” he said.

“They tend to want to gravitate towards gangs. They tend to want to be the bullies in class, they tend to want to be the clown in the class, and when the years has passed them, then they want to blame the government or anybody else: ‘I can't find a job’, but you can't find a job because you're not qualified to do so.”

“Then some of them tend to want to take the easy road out, smoke marijuana or drink alcohol, you see, so that's one of the reasons why, you know, the pool is so short.”

Commissioner Cleare said the government’s National Youth Guard programme could help create a wider pool of young men for uniformed agencies to recruit from. He said he learned too late about some of the programme’s qualified male participants, saying the police and defence force had already recruited them before corrections officers had a chance to do so. He said only women were left by the time BDOCS became aware of the pool.

Commissioner Cleare also highlighted the department’s need for recruits with technical and trade skills. He said BDOCS lost an air-conditioning technician to retirement and has also lost workers skilled in fencing and plumbing.

Officials said the trainee programme likely has a dropout rate of one to two percent.