Under the morning sun in Pétion-Ville, dozens of people crowd in front of the commune’s police station. They are hundreds coming to inquire about the progress of their applications. The crowd is dense. A few days earlier, they had already been at this same location to submit their documents in order to join the 37th class of the Haitian National Police (PNH). The scene observed is hardly different from that of recent weeks. In front of this same building, dozens had been lining up to register. According to some testimonies, the same turnout was observed at several other registration points across the country, notably in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.

A few months ago, the Haitian National Police launched the P4000 program, an ambitious project aimed at equipping the institution with a workforce of 4,000 officers over an 18-month period. This is intended to address the PNH’s staffing shortages and to better combat insecurity. The call was directed at young people, and they appear to have responded well. In this context of a security crisis where police officers are on the front line against gangs, sometimes at the risk of their lives, the institution seems to be attracting more and more young people.