What would you do if, working in a culture of fear and distrust, your boss asked for information it appears you you should not divulge? Should your boss ever place you in this situation? To put this in some context, it appears the information should not, by law, be disclosed to another and the requestor…
Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of a Police service ‘in crisis‘, recently speaking about Bermuda’s appalling crime statistics, is reported (by the Gazette) to have remarked: As I have often said, the community is the police and the police is the community.* Possibly the quote should have been attributed; a small gesture, but it shows integrity…
Where are the crime figures for 2023 and 2024? Can they really be that difficult to produce? As for 2022, whilst offences recorded by police fell more than 8 per cent in 2022 compared with the previous year (believed to be due to Covid regulations, as opposed to policing), many areas saw troubling increases: Serious…
The Bermuda Police Review report (which can be read here), in many respects, delivers a damning assessment. However, its opening statement “The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) is a high-performing, forward-thinking, and advanced force in comparison to its Overseas Territories counterparts” immediately casts doubt on its credibility. The comparison, left vague and unquantified, raises critical questions:…
Just days after the sacking of a senior Officer for ‘poor conduct’(read more here) the island’s Assistant Commissioner (3rd highest rank) Martin Weekes, received ‘management advice’ as a result of WhatsApp exchanges with a former officer. These exchanges, coming to light during a hearing, were apparently described as: embarrassing not in keeping with the high…
13/12/204 – a Bermuda Police Service (BPS) superintendent has been fired for inappropriate conduct. The identity of the officer has yet to be disclosed but the lack of people holding such a rank is few and it will likely not be long before this detail is revealed. The ‘poor conduct’ description covers a multitude. Whilst…
2024 has seen what may be a record number of murders in Bermuda and, adding to the many unsolved killings, in November 2024, a conviction has been quashed due to ‘fundamentally flawed DNA evidence‘. Coincidentally, in 2024, a UK film crew has been on the island filming the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) and Coast Guard. It…
05/2009 – A new DNA database was in the pipeline for Bermuda with the Police hoping it would crack cold cases and boost detection rates in new crimes. A three-year contract with Florida-based firm, Trinity DNA Solutions was signed with the $987,000 entirely from proceeds of crime cash confiscated during court proceedings and put into the…
As the Bermuda Police Service issues yet another call for assistance in solving a growing list of unsolved homicides, the community faces the devastating news of a further fatal stabbing. This latest tragedy potentially marks the eighth homicide of 2024, a deeply troubling figure that may set an unwanted record for the year. The plea…
An email, initially dated, 07 September 2024 to the BPS, currently without a response, copied 02/10/2024. It follows the BPS disclosure of the 2018 list of the island’s 42 licence holders for a total of 100 firearms*. The list detailed the licence holder’s names, dates of birth and addressees. An application for 2 handgun licences…