Interior Ministry lays out eligibility requirements for new community police force

The Interior Ministry announced Thursday eligibility requirements for the recently-designated job of security assistant, initially referred to by media as "community police."
 
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently issued a decree implementing the new force. The president said the decision aimed to reinforce police capabilities to combat criminal action.
 
Democracy advocates, rattled by what they deem a crackdown on political freedoms under Sisi, have criticized the judiciary’s approval in October of the draft submitted by the Interior Ministry amending the police law that would grant arrest powers to less-educated, police-trained citizens. They viewed the development as an attempt by the government to tighten its security grip on political dissent.
 
Among other requirements, Adel Refaat, Assistant Interior Minister for Personnel Affairs, said applicants should be native Egyptians with a clean criminal record, holding at least a preparatory school certificate, and between 19 and 23 years old.
 
The Police Academy accepts holders of at least high school certificates. Applicants accepted for the new rank, however, will be trained for 18 months at several other police institutes, as outlined by Refaat.