A new system for police officer recruitment and preparation for the Timor-Leste National Police is currently being prepared by the Secretariat of State for Security, with the support of the Portuguese police force GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana). The process is being reformulated, not only at the recruit level but also at the training level. The main objective is to improve the police officers’ capacity.

One of the predicted amendments for the new recruitment is the lowering of the candidate’s age. “The predicted age is from 18 to 23 years. Some police officers have an already advanced age and, already thinking on that, we created the Retirement Law, but we need to recruit new members, preferably youngsters, so that we can ensure a more viable process for the PNTL’s continuity”, said the Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Guterres, to the Timor-Leste Radio program “Goodbye Conflict, Welcome Development”.

We also want to increase the share of feminine participation in the National Police: “we decided that we will have fifteen per cent of women in the PNTL. We are preparing this. In the new recruitment, for every ten admitted candidates, three will be women”, ensures Francisco Guterres.

Administratively changes are also being prepared, especially in what concerns the application documents. The Secretariat of State for Security is drafting new forms to “make the process more transparent and to stop any possibility of nepotism from occuring” says the Secretary of State.

Still within the recruitment process, several tests are being prepared: a medical test, general culture written test, psychology tests and a physical test. These will be the several phases of a recruitment that will be more rigorous and from which the best 250 candidates will be chosen for the training of new PNTL police officers.

This basic training was extended. It started of at only three months, but soon the authorities understood that it was insufficient and increased it to four months. This length also didn’t satisfy the learning and ability needs that this profession demands. “With a more rigorous training, we can improve our Police’s structure and capacity. We have already decided that the police’s basic training will have the duration of one year: nine months of basic training followed by three months of on the job training”, explained the Secretary of State for Security, also saying that this process will already be applied this year to the new 250 recruits.