Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 12, 2017 (RSCNPF): Seventeen-year-old Shadejie Smith always wanted to be a police officer. Her aspiration was deepened even further when she got an opportunity to work at the Basseterre Police Headquarters recently for her one-week job attachment. She is a fifth form student at the Washington Archibald High School.
“I liked it a lot. I worked in the office with the Administrative Assistants of the Deputy Commissioner of Police and one of the Assistant Commissioners of Police,” the fifth-form student disclosed.
As part of the requirements of the attachment, Shadejie had to interview police officers about their jobs for a School-Based Assessment (SBA). During that interview, she was able to find out what led them to join the force.
“Everybody works together here and I like that. I learned a lot about the force that I didn’t know before. I also didn’t know that the Basseterre Police Station and Headquarters was actually so big. It looks smaller from the outside,” she said laughingly.
Shadejie was one of several students who worked with the police force for their one-week job attachments during the school’s vacation period. Three students came from the Cayon High School: Samantha Simmonds was assigned to the Minor Crime Unit, Lakeem Crosse worked with the Special Services Unit (SSU), while Jade Liburd was stationed at the Crime Scene Unit (CSU).
Force Personnel Officer, Clifford Govia, explained that the initiative was part of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force’s six-point plan under the area of Community Engagement.
“The primary objective of the job attachment sensitisation project is to provide a platform for high school students to obtain work experience in their field of studies while, at the same time, allow them to appreciate the hard work of the dedicated police officers,” Mr. Govia said.