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the Corruption Prevention Department. These Departments will be staffed entirely by civilians and, I hope, largely from outside the Government Service. We are in the process of recruiting several promising local officers from the Government Service at a slightly lower level and we will publicise these appointments accordingly.
Meanwhile, you will be glad to know that the response to our advertisements in the local press and within Government has been most encouraging and to date we have received over 5,300 applications. Included in this number are 35 applications in respect of the two senior posts of Director and Assistant Director to head the Community Relations Department to which I have referred.
The state of play as regards the Operations Department is that John Prendergast formally took over as Director of Operations on the 15th February with the assistance of Harknett who joined us on 1st February. Harknett has been allowed to retire prematurely from the Police Force and has been appointed on agreement terms for an initial tour of 2 years. Whilst it is true that the Operations Department will continue to be manned largely by police officers seconded from the Force for some time to come and by former policemen, I am
I am sure you will appreciate that the nature of the problem, the need to ensure that there is no deceleration in the drive against corruption and the speed with which we were required to set up the Commission are parameters that have dictated to a large extent the make up of the Operations Department. This Department is at present the only Department in being, but planning for the other two proceeds apace and I aim (rather optimistically) to have both set up by the time we move into new offices (Hutchinson House) in July/August; indeed, we could scarcely accommodate them before then.
Whilst we are making every effort to recruit from the private sector, you will appreciate the effectiveness of the Operations Department will continue for some time to depend largely on men with experience in police methods of detection, surveillance, intelligence and security work, and with the preparation of cases for court. The public at large expects early and dramatic action, but I believe from our many meet- ings with representative bodies that a large sector of the thinking public realises the immensity of our task and accepts that, from an operational point of view, we must necessarily continue to use policemen and police methods. You should also know that we inherited a seriously depleted operational organisation. This was basically a reflection of the general position of the Police Force which remains badly under establishment, but the Commissioner of Police kept the strength of the Anti-Corruption Office above the general strength level of the rest of the Force.
We must, therefore, as our first priority attempt to fill existing vacancies; and action to recruit to these
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