"In a way we are all pilgrims." Monika Unsworth samples theatmosphere at the PSNI's new training centre as graduation day approaches.
'Pioneers", "trailblazers" and the PSNI's "bright new future" have been some of the phrases used to describe the first batch of student officers recruited under the new regime set out in the Patten proposals. They will be the service's first officers with no links to the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
From more than 8,000 applications, 308 men and women, most in their late 20s, were selected last year on a strictly 50:50 basis - half to be Catholics, the other half to be Protestants and others - to complete the first 20 weeks of foundation training from which the first 45 will emerge as brand-new constables following their graduation tomorrow .
So how have they been shaping up? Chief Supt Roly Laird, in charge of the PSNI's Garnerville training college at the outskirts of east Belfast, says he has been "extremely impressed" with the recruits' attitude and expectations.
"These are people who have performed a great act of moral and physical courage to come and join and that has to be respected and applauded. It fills me with enormous pride and confidence for the future of this police service that there are people of such character joining our ranks."
The foundation faculty is located in a 1960s domestic science college but the recruits have been spoilt with brand-new facilities - a new classroom block, 120-seat state-of-the-art lecture theatre, simulated interview rooms with cameras and a gym with cycles, rowing, running and weightlifting equipment, all of it put in place in October just before the first batch arrived.
Chief Supt Laird says the PSNI is placing great emphasis on a "clean-wall policy". Apart from one poster with the pictures of the more than 300 RUC officers killed during the Troubles nothing would give away the fact that this is a police training college. The pastel-coloured walls are covered with notice boards announcing various activities, the canteen is cheerfully pink. A number of male and female recruits, some in uniform, some in track suits, ignore us politely as we enter the bar which has a stage for bands. "This is the place where they study the licensing laws," Chief Supt Laird says with a wry grin.
He will not comment on whether any of the Catholic recruits or their families have experienced intimidation or harassment from within their own community since they began their training, but says there have been "healthy discussions" between Catholic and Protestant student officers, facilitated by members of the Northern Ireland Mediation Network who have been brought in especially for that purpose.
"That's a bit of an experiment because, traditionally in policing, you do not talk about politics or religion or gender issues. You are there to do a job, you are there to be professional. These are things you leave outside the workplace. What we are saying now is: 'You need to be able to discuss these things but with respect for the dignity of the other person holding a different point of view.' That is one of the cultural changes we see as necessary within policing because how do you deal with diversity in the community as a police officer if you can't deal with diversity in your own workplace and among your own colleagues?
"In Northern Ireland, when it comes to diversity, people are polite with one another - they skirt round the issues rather than actually deal with them. What we are looking at is moving on from the polite stage. We still want people to be polite but we want them also to deal constructively with the issues diversity throws up because we see strength coming from the diverse composition of the organisation. We want our people to take advantage of that strength."
The recruits, Chief Supt Laird insists, want to be accepted as "fully professional police officers rather than media celebrities". As soon as they enrol as recruits they automatically become students of the University of Ulster's Certificate in Policing Studies, which they are awarded after passing exams at the end of their 20-week foundation course.
After another 10 weeks at the Policing Services Faculty, where they receive practical training in firearms, public order situations and driving, they are assigned to tutor constable units where they are supervised on a one-to-one basis for another 10 weeks. Almost two more years of probation follow before they are confirmed as constables.
Chief Supt Laird says this new training regime coupled with the foundation curriculum's strong emphasis on human rights, diversity and equal opportunity has become a model for other police forces in the UK. An exchange programme with the Garda Síochána has just been put in place, with trainers from both forces spending time at each other's training colleges.
"When we devised the new curriculum we were told by the Chief Constable [Sir Ronnie Flanagan] to 'take a green-field site and do some blue-sky thinking'. In a way we are all pilgrims. There are no textbooks written for what we are doing. So it's all about good faith, best judgment and partnership and trust. If we continuously revert to the old blame culture approach we are not going to move anywhere. To that extent I would say the police service has probably developed faster than the rest of the community."
There is a danger of becoming too politically correct, he admits, but feels that the recruits would rein in their trainers if that ever became an issue. For that purpose a five-year study has been put in place by the PSNI's occupational psychologists which will follow the young officers' progress and gather their opinions. So far, the recruits are mainly complaining about a lack of structured physical education. Some of them have also voiced concern about the way discussions over diversity are being handled, something that will require a change of the trainers' life-long habits, Chief Supt Laird adds.
"To go from not discussing those things to going to discussing them with confidence takes practice and understanding. Let's not forget, we are all on a steep learning curve here."