The BPS put a tremendous amount of time into officer safety training. But this program (safety training) is not done with the core role and expectation of the Bermuda Police Service in mind: that is, to protect and to serve.
The police cannot protect the community unless they are willing to face the danger the community is forced to confront. The current means of training is not appropriate for a small island such as Bermuda. Unfortunately, the Bermuda Police Service has adopted its training style from big metropolises, where people are very impersonal, and has applied it to the small community of Bermuda.
There are many factors that must be considered such as.
a. The level, frequency and nature of the threats in the big, over-populated cities and countries differ from those of Bermuda.
b. The difference in the size and layout of the cities when compared to that of Bermuda.
c. The size and the design of the buildings are far different from that of Bermuda.
It is important to note that the training imparted to the officers in the big cities and countries are tailor for those particular countries’ situation. To adopt such training to the Bermuda situation is not wise. The present training as it stands teaches the officers of the Bermuda Police Service to run away from any threat or danger; to the community, to ourselves and or our colleagues.
There was an incident in the western district which resulted in police officer Sean Brooms received serious injury to his head which was inflicted by a machete wielding mad man. All of PC brooms colleagues abandoned him. PC Brooms were left him to the mercy of a raving lunatic. Terry Thomas was later arrested, prosecuted convicted and imprisoned for that incident.
It was reported that when PC Brooms was attacked he was totally helpless for several reasons.
1. He was never really taught how to defend himself in such a situation as is apart of the training in other police organization (PC Brooms was retrained by the BPS).
2. He was only implementing what he was taught by the Bermuda Police Service: run away from the danger.
3. His colleagues also did as they were taught, and ran away from danger.
4. One of the officers even locked herself in the assailant’s house, thus preventing PC Brooms from entering the house when he tried to escape the danger.
Could you imagine such a thing happening to members of the public, with police officers abandoning them in the same manner PC brooms was abandoned?
The Bermuda Police Service seriously needs to reexamine the way it prepares its members to protect the community. The management of the Bermuda Police Service has got to come to a simple understanding that policing is serious business; it is not about appearance but it is about providing such a high level of service that the community feels safe and develops a willingness to help the police, and in the process aids in crime reduction.
