Bermuda Police – Toxic, Racist & a Culture of Fear – ‘A Service in Crisis’

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: Which overseas territories were included? Were they evaluated under similar scrutiny? And does this imply Bermuda performs marginally better than forces deemed subpar?

The methodology behind the report also invites scepticism. Was it merely a desk-bound exercise, reliant on pro forma or templated questions? Were responses processed in a way that allowed automated findings to churn out boilerplate conclusions? The lack of clarity around the relatively low number of responses, unsegmented by rank or seniority, raises further concerns. Was the analysis manual and thoughtful, or superficial at best?

Given the fear cited by those who did respond, possibly the silence of over half the ‘service’ conveys a more grim picture with the local press writing ‘paints a bleak picture of a police service in crisis‘.

Ultimately, the report’s approach and substance leave one questioning whether it offers meaningful insight. Possibly requests for further information will shed more light on the situation:

Request of the UK’s Hertfordshire Constabulary for Information
Request of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for information.

Should any Bermudian be interested in different information from UK Authorities or wish to monitor the outcome of the above requests, signing up is free and (unlike with the Bermuda PATI), the UK’s is a proper Freedom of Information Act; available to non-residents: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

Overall, those who responded to the approach for feedback had a deep sense of pride, belonging to and being a part of the Bermuda Police Service. Taken from the report:

low morale across the organisation
less than positive culture
burn-out
challenges around capability
shortage of staff
Training was a contentious issue
lack of succession planning
The complaints department/process (PSD*) in its current form has led to a culture of fear and distrust – by December 2021 almost half the island’s police officers had been investigated for alleged wrongdoing in the previous three years
broken trust
a sense of a ‘them and us’ culture between the wider workforce and senior leadership team.
concerns about legal liability & vulnerability
differing ethnic groups feeling differentiation in how they are treated; the perception that race and nationality play a large role in the organisations current culture

*Professional Standards Department

Additionally:

Resourcing is by far the biggest challenge
a perception that people feel burnt out
difficulties recruiting the right calibre of applicants
suitability of officers joining in the first instance
a large cohort of officers coming up to retirement
policing no longer seen as a career for life
supervision by those who are also young in service
challenges around training offerings, availability and maintaining specialisms
increase in serious crime as well as the complexity of crime; increase in gun and gang crime on the island, both of which are often linked to drugs