FOR THOSE lacking in height, but buzzing with brain cells, a career in the police force may no longer be just a pipe dream. According to yesterday’s Phileleftheros, Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous has proposed changing the current rules on minimum height for recruitment to the police force after receiving a number of complaints over the requirement.
As the law currently stands, women under 1.60m and men less than 1.65m cannot take up jobs in the police force unless they wish to become ‘second-grade’ officers, doing menial jobs with no promotional prospects.
According to the Police Recruitment Office, those under the requisite height can enter the force on a special status, but start at the bottom of the wage scale (A1 level) and go up to maximum A5, with no prospect of promotion. Their duties include keeping guard, taking finger prints and other such tasks. Compared to their elevated colleagues, they get a raw deal. Those who pass the height requirement start on A3 wage scales which can go up to A7 after which they also have the chance for promotion.
Up to now, the minimum height could be bypassed if the Justice Minister and Police Chief agreed on the need to let in a few shorter police cadets.
“This used to happen some years back, but it has been a while now since they’ve done that,” said the recruitment official.
However, many hopefuls felt hard done by after passing the exams but missing out on the job because they were one or two centimetres short of the target.
The official explained that when an exception was to be made it was for all the women of a certain height during a specific round of recruitment and not just for one individual.
According to Phileleftheros, the Justice Minister wrote a letter to Police Chief Iacovos Papacostas suggesting that police measure the height of would-be officers before examinations are taken rather than after. He also proposed abolishing the right that he and the police chief have to make exceptions to the rule when they see fit. Instead he wishes to allow those with very high IQ to make the grade, even if they are a few centimetres below par. Great minds should not be lost over height, Sophocleous was reported as saying. The minister and police chief were abroad and unavailable for comment yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Ombudswoman’s office is looking into 11 complaints regarding the height requirement, 10 of which relate to the last round of recruitment in 2007. The majority concern female applicants. According to one official, the investigation is in its final stages.
