Manpower Issues Not Due to the Lack Of Interest In Joining Royal Bahamas Police Force

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) recently launched a new online recruitment portal to address a manpower shortage but the shortage isn’t due to the lack of interest in joining the force.

“Recruitment is not dwindling, what is happening to the organization is the attrition and attrition just happens,” according to Commandant of the Police Training College Chief Superintendent Laura Staurt.

“We recruit in squads of batches of 100 or previous years we had squads of maybe 30 but when it comes time to retirement they will be retiring depending on how they progress in the organization.”

In late July, Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles told reporters the RBPF is facing a significant manpower shortage.

At the time, she estimated an additionAl 2,000 officers were needed to effectively police the nation.

So what are some of the contributing factors to the shortage?

Chief Superintendent Stuart says retirement, officers leaving for other careers, or death. 

The veteran officer also says in the last five years, the largest recruitment exercise was in 2024, when there were 200 recruits.

And those officers are also recruited in Grand Bahama and the Family Islands. 

And with each cycle of recruitment, there are those waiting to fill in if others drop out.

“Training is not really something for everyone,” Stuart said. “Some persons come and within the first day they change their minds and they tap out and so our wait list allows us to be able to back fill.”