People will trained to deal with situations they encounter

The force hopes to boost its numbers from 149 to a target strength of 177, with its latest recruitment drive for officers to start training this year.

Guernsey Police announced in March it wanted to put more bobbies on the beat.

It came after its five-year policing plan revealed more than 25% of people said they lived in fear of crime.

Hostile situations

Sergeant Carl Zillinger said although recruits could expect to be confronted by hostile situations in their work, they would be equipped to cope.

He said: "As a police officer, you can expect to come across people who, for whatever reason, will forget you have a personality and just dislike you because of the uniform you are wearing.

"There is an expectation that you will be dealing with that and, no doubt, it does put some people off.

"But what I would say is that the equipment we have got, plus the level of training, will help people deal with that."