Bermuda Police: Fighting Crime & Government

August 16, 2010

police car tape ju10[Written by Larry Burchall]

The Bermuda Police Service, currently engaged in a hard fight against gun carrying gangsters, is also, behind the scenes, fighting Government over long-running pay issues that stretch back as far 2005.

Essentially, Policemen have been able to retire at age 55 or after twenty-five consecutive years of unbroken service. Across the western world, most Police services have similar arrangements; that is retirement before 65. After all, would anyone want a 64 year old policeman puffing and wheezing his way up the driveway, stopping for breath halfway, as part of the police response to a call about a robbery in process nearby?

Generally, all policemen, firemen, military men, have earlier retirement schemes; all for the same reason. A sixty year old US marine charging up the hills in Afghanistan? Or a sixty-four year-old fireman hauling heavy fire hoses?

The BPS negotiated for changes and clarifications in their pension arrangements. Alan Dunch, the lawyer representing the Bermuda Police Association (the BPS ‘union’), is reported as saying: “The result of this is that Police officers are contributing 4.5 percent more to the Pension Fund than other members of the Civil Service”.

This additional contribution is supposed to compensate for the actuarial reality that Policemen’s pension contribution schedules probably should be different from people who retire at 65.

Currently, ordinary Civil servants contribute an across the board 8 percent as their contribution. However, Policemen are contributing a higher amount. Constables, Sergeants, and Chief Inspectors contribute 9.5 percent of their pay as their pension contribution; while Superintendents and above contribute 8 percent, the same as Civil Servants. The higher 9.5 percent Police contribution is said to compensate, in part, for their shorter working life with its necessarily fewer contributions against a probably longer pension payout period.

Overall, junior policemen who are paying the higher percentage are making a contribution that is 18.75 percent higher than all other Civil Servants and their more senior Police officers.

Police Officers got a 5.8 percent pay increase for 2008/09; a $350 monthly Housing Allowance increase back-dated to October 2005; and a 5 percent pay increase for each of 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08.

Government refused to recognize some aspects of those awards. This heightened the dispute between Government and the Bermuda Police Association and helped lead to the 2009 never-happened-before march on Parliament by serving, uniformed, Police officers.

Aspects of this whole matter are still unresolved. The BPA currently has part of their case awaiting a hearing at the Privy Council in London; while another part of their case is due for a hearing in Bermuda’s Supreme Court on September 9th.

One fight with the gunmen, looks like two fights with Government. In 1879, in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, “Pirates of Penzance” there is a line: “A policeman’s lot is not a happy one”.

Seems not much has changed in 131 years.

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  1. Truth is killin' me says:

    No wonder the boys and girls in blue do a half hearted job at the work they do. Pay them what they are worth and maybe you will see a better job at crime reduction on this island! This Government needs to get it’s priorities in line instead of giving lip service every time one of our young black males are killed in the street!