Cyprus police have extended their recruitment call for some 250 new officers, with interested candidates now having until 6 May to apply.
The force has declared 200 openings for police officers, 56 for fire department officers and for 30 special constables with the initial final date for submitting applications being 22 April.
A police official told the Financial Mirror, that because of heightened interest, with the force evaluating that the original time-frame given was not sufficient as it coincided with the Easter holidays, led the leadership to give a two-week extension.
Candidates are to undergo a written examination followed by a physical test, the dates of both to be announced soon.
Successful recruits will undergo a paid three-year training course at the police academy
According to current procedures, any academic qualifications held by applicants do not play any role as to which department they will be assigned, nor will it have any effect on how much they will be earning.
Academic qualifications will only earn the holder priority points at the entry level.
Successful graduates will undergo a probation period of three years during which they will be paid in full.
Currently, the force employees 4,912 officers, of which 1,252 are women and 655 are firefighters.
The hiring of the 256 police and fire department officers, plus the 30 special constables, are part of the ongoing restructuring of the force, said Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou.
“We are finally moving from words to action, after years of the reforms being put on hold due to political interventions from the parties,” he said.
Nicolaou revealed that previous reorganization plans had failed because "some people wanted the changes voted by the House to suit their own agenda".
Clarifying that he would not allow anyone's personal agenda to interfere with reforms he added that reorganization of the police will be supervised by experts from start to finish of the process, to ensure that changes are done in their entirety and based on expert studies.
The Justice Minister said restructuring will be carried out after the completion of four separate studies for which the government has already made a call for tenders to private sector consulting firms.
