SPANISH TOWN, St Catherine:

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has said for the country to effectively tackle the monster of crime, the preparation has to start from the training of the persons who will be integrally involved in the process.

Golding was speaking at a ceremony where 50 police personnel graduated from a special management development programme at the Twickenham Park Police Academy.

Development

The Prime Minister said $470 million is to be spent on the development of the Twickenham Park training facilities, which, he said, did not meet standards.

Golding, who is also the Minister of Defence, told those in attendance that the firing range was set to be expanded and the facility would include other advanced training instruments that would cost $70 million.

The British Government, Golding explained, would be assisting the country with finding the figure.

The other $400 million will be spent on upgrading the current facilities.

Challenging system

He told the graduating class of inspectors and assistant super-intendents that they were in a system that was very challenging.

However, Golding did go on to say that with a heightened sense of integrity, and new training methods, criminals would finally meet their match and that the country would benefit tremendously.

Those who graduated from the programme came from the Internal Graduate Development, Accelerated Promotion and Graduate Entry for persons joining the force with at least a bachelor's degree.