Meaning of 扱う in a context of 'deal with someone'

Question

I know that 扱う means "to handle,to deal with". But I cannot understand it in the following context

story: a new recruit arrives to the police department and is embarked on a case as soon as she arrives.

悪いが人手不足は深刻でね‌ 新米扱いはしていられない‌

The best I arrive if I try to translate is "Sorry, but we are very short on manpower.‌ I cannot afford to handle new recruits"

I found the following translation but it seems the meaning is slightly different,

Sorry, but we are very short on manpower.‌ So you'll have to hit the ground running.

where the accent is put on the new recruit being operational as soon as possible.

Am I wrong ?

Answer 1

I think that 新米扱いをする is translated as "to treat someone like a newcomer". 新米扱いはしていられない‌ has a nuance like "I cannot afford to handle new recruits" and "You'll have to hit the ground running", because newcomers are not immediately operational workers. As you said, that is they said that you must be operational as soon as possible.