I am of the opinion that actions of a large number of the Bermuda Police Service personnel leave much to be desired. Too often the victims are directly and or indirectly encouraged or forced (by members of the BPS) not to pursue prosecution but rather to request no further police action when a crime is committed against them. This mentality when propagated only benefits the criminal community. This attitude to policing only seeks to give the criminal community the assurance that the police are not going to take any action, thus give them the go-ahead to continue in a life of crime.
Most (not all) police officers are of the belief that policing Bermuda is all about showing up at the scene of an incident when it occurs, taking the victim’s particulars, an account of the incident, complete a written update on the computer, and making sure the update ends with some term like advise given and the victim “requested no further police action,” thus closing the case with no question asked. Whether the advice was actually given, how pertinent the information that was given, whether the victim really requested no further police action, or even how the victim came to such a decision, remains unknown.
The members of the Bermuda Police Service as it presently stands do not police the community in the true sense of the word; they are data in putters. The officers attend or go to incidents; they collect data, return to their various stations, and put the data into the police computer, ensuring that the statistics and events are recorded and updated. But the big question is: what level of redress does the community receive from those who are paid to protect and to serve them?
Question:
1. What prevention program the Bermuda Police Service has in place to effectively cut back on the number of crimes that are committed?
2. What proportion of Bermuda is patrolled by foot and how effective is foot patrol in crime prevention?
Mobile Patrol
Have you ever observed a police car moving from point A to point B or a police vehicle on mobile patrol? It is hard to determine whether a police vehicle is on mobile patrol or attending an incident that needs urgent attention. On an island where the speed limit is 35 km per hour; why is it necessary for the police vehicles to patrol at such fast rate of speed?
I have heard of many incidents in which police vehicles drove past a crime in progress. Police vehicles travel too fast for the occupants to properly observe the people and their activities as they drive by. A patrol is a slow drive which gives the officers enough time and the opportunity to observe the community and its activities; it gives them (the police) just enough time to verify that the activities are not unlawful, without invading the privacy of the residents. Mobile patrol is essential but it must be conducted in the correct manner in order to be effective. It is important to remember a mobile patrol is not a drive by or a drive through.
From my experience policing Bermuda there are but a few officers who actually conducted mobile patrols. Most of the police officers that conduct mobile patrols about Bermuda failed in this task; they conduct drive through and drive by which is done at fast rate of speed. Another unfortunate occurrence is the patrol of the points that are considered hot spots. Most officers avoid patrolling these areas for fear of confrontation, and when officers do drive through these areas they ignore the illegal activities that are being conducted, giving the people who are involved in criminal activities the idea that the police are afraid of them.
This goes even deeper when the communities observing the police behavior they sum up the actions as corrupt and affects the police relationship with the community:
a. The police as being involved or associated with the activities of the criminal (in most cases drug sellers/pushers)
b. Members of the community are uncomfortable when they are asked to provide assistance to the police, for fare that their confidence will be betrayed.
c. Has no confidence in the police ability or willingness to protect them and become fearful of the criminal elements that operate within their communities
Lets take for example the De Graff family that resides at the junction of St. Monica’s and The Glebe Road Pembroke. This family invested a hefty sum of money (a few million dollars) in constructing a new family home. The neighbors were/are involved in illegal activities, includes drug use and sales (this information was obtained from my observation when I went to deal with the loud noise report), they also played amplified music all day and at very late hours of the night, preventing this working family (the De Graff) from getting any night’s rest.
Although the loud music which was the basis of the report could be heard from the public road, and although this family had been calling the police for several months, none of the police officers who were dispatched and attended the report never dealt with the issue. They simply said that no loud music was heard. This was done for the simple reason that the police officers who were dispatched were too afraid to confront the offenders in the presence of their patrons. So this family was forced to exist in an unhealthy environment because the police were afraid or refused to do the job they took an oath to do. Therefore this family went through this unfortunate situation for several months until I was dispatched to deal with that reoccurring incident and took the appropriate steps that were needed, steps which should have been taken months before. To date my follow up revealed that the De Graff family now experienced a sense of peace in their home.
