Top UK Police Officer Will Visit Bermuda
[Updated] Governor Sir Richard Gozney announced today [May 18] that with the “strong encouragement and endorsement of the Commissioner of Police and the other leaders of the Bermuda Police Service”, he has invited Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Bernard Hogan-Howe, to visit Bermuda this year.
Mr. Hogan-Howe has agreed to focus closely on the issues of policing of most concern to the island and will consult on the Bermuda Police Service’s strategies to counter guns, gangs, drugs and violence.
His visit is planned for the autumn and will be preceded by a senior level preparatory visit from the UK Inspectorate of Constabulary in a few weeks’ time.
The last visit to Bermuda by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary was in 2003. The Inspector of Constabulary and his officers making the preparatory visit will charge no fees, and the Bermuda Police Service will only pay for their flights and accommodation.
The Governor said he is “very glad” that Mr. Hogan-Howe is making time to accept the invitation to visit the Bermuda Police Service, and to “provide something of a cross check on what are the most high profile areas of Police Service work.”
Before taking up his position as Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Mr Hogan-Howe was Chief Constable of the Merseyside Police from 2004 to 2009.
While heading that police force, crime in the multi-cultural Liverpool area dropped dramatically.
“The Daily Telegraph” reported the northern city had the largest fall in crime in the UK in 2008 – down 18 per cent after an 11 per cent drop the previous year. Mr. Hogan-Howe’s get-tough approach to criminals and outspoken support for community policing were largely credited for the reversal.
“Mr. Hogan-Howe is the scourge of the liberal judges … and an advocate of zero tolerance,” said the British newspaper. “He is scornful of the idea of merely cautioning people caught in possession of knives and guns. In Merseyside charges are brought irrespective of whether the knife has been used or not.”
He told the “Telegraph”: “People in communities must be looked after. If I am there I will have no problem in making an arrest myself …
“Too many think if they are caught the knife will be taken off them and that will be it if they have not stabbed anyone. Wrong. We need a message sent out that cautions are not enough. It has to be tougher. People have to know if they are caught with a weapon there will be consequences. It is a serious offence …
“The terrible thing seems to be that there have been a lot of black perpetrators and a lot of black victims. That is not a matter of race. It is a matter of keeping people safe. If it is a black issue, talk to them about it, ask what they think would help, but don’t go soft on it. The vast majority of people in those communities are law abiding.”
The son of a single mother, Mr. Hogan-Howe was born in the British city of Sheffield. He left school at 18 and worked as a laboratory assistant. He then joined South Yorkshire Police in 1979. At 28 he was sent by the police, who recognised his potential, to Oxford University to study law.
The Governor and the Bermuda Police Service have said they plan to make his recommendations public.
For more information on Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary you can visit their website.
Update 4:14pm: “Timely and encouraging,” said Minister of National Security Wayne Perinchief said, as he commented on the announcement by Government House today of the pending visit by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
The Minister continued: “The Government is fully supportive of this important exercise and I had advised Cabinet of the visit and the terms of reference. I look forward to the recommendations.”
As part of the preparatory visit of the senior support team in a few weeks’ time, Minister Perinchief has accepted the Governor’s invitation to meet with them.
“Mr. Hogan-Howe’s experience with some of the same issues we are facing makes his visit all the more important and I look forward to meeting him and sharing his perspective on addressing the challenges we face in law enforcement,” he concluded.
The only reason we are having a consultant on the violence and crime issues is because it’s the governor, and he has the authority to do so. God FORBID the Bermudian government take their heads outa their rear ends and ask for help. The rest of the developed world has been going through these same issues for decades, and this is relatively new to us. So OF COURSE we have the credentials and experience to deal with this as a problem Right.
“that with the “strong encouragement and endorsement of the Commissioner of Police and the other leaders of the Bermuda Police Service”
@ aald the official statment makes no mention of this decision being endorsed by the Government. Its safe to assume that Brother Burch would have never supported this move. Why blame the Governor for standing back and letting the Government mangage the issue, and only get involved when its at a crisis level. Gozney is smart not to force his will on the government until its absolutely necessary.
It would have made more sense for Minister Perenchief and the Governor to hold a joint press conference in order to present a unified front.
What is the Minister’s position on this matter?
I see that the Minister has responded to the statement fron GH.
typo—-from GH
Finally someone to encourage our police service to do what most people agree should have been doing long ago. Until we make the criminals uncomfortable we will never solve the gang problem. We are legally able to hold criminals for 4 days and even longer with the ok from a magistrate, lets do it! Do it on a regular basis so that criminals realize we are not playing. These thugs aren’t scared of the police, they’re only scared of other thugs. Until they actually fear the police what chance do we stand in taking our community back?
Well Done Mr. Governor, this is exactly what we needed
. Now its time for the citizens to do their part so we can truly solve this problem.
I agree with you 100%” get a life” you said it all
I can guess what his recommendation would be…..you need more UK cops down here mate!
No I don’t think Bermudians could handle the disciplined BPS in the streets. Maybe the U.S. Police would be more appropriate. Bermudians would be able to relate more to them, a little Jazz and soul pinch me baby. COPS in Bermuda, it could work.
Here we ago again. Its amazing that people who sit on the other side of the fence are all shouting hip hip horray. If the Governor, NOT the Government had taken this approach during the early stages of these crimes, we might not be where we are today.
May i remind the individuals who are i nsupport, that its the Governor and NOT the Government that HAS ultimate responsibility for the Bermuda Police Service.
I just also hope, that when the overseas expert makes his recommendations, that these same people arent going to cry foul, becuase it might have some bearing on their day to day life.
well said, but have no fear. His hue and country of origin, along with his host, guarantee that his recommendations will be gospel and received as such.
I remember when a certain opposition Party in the last election put forward the idea of brining in certain “special forces” from overseas along with the institution of stonger sentencing in order to combat a rising crime rate.
The current governing Party’s (predictable) politricking response, “See, they (read white ppl) are all neo-fascists that want to lock us all up!”
Hindsight is a b*tch I guess right fellas?
Also, didn’t your beloved former Premier also raise the idea of brining in SWAT teams. And in return you ate your own…
Short term memories and hypocrites go hand in hand…
So what is your view on the fact that this Government, not the Governor, now pays more in annual debt servicing payments to overseas investors/institutions, then is allocated to the BPS within the annual budget?
Definitely the UBP’s, OBA’s, BDA’s, HSBC’s, white people, uncle toms, haters et al fault…right fellas?
Clearly we need assistance, however, isn’t that the reason we have the much heralded Mirfield?
GOOD! FINALLY! I have been waiting for someone like this to come and fix this place for some time. I laughed at the “scourge of the liberal judges,” bit. Even though I am a liberal myself, I think these judges are too soft, and I believe there should be zero tolerance in Bermuda.
@ itsme
It doesn’t matter if the police are the GOVERNORS responsibility, the fact is WE are the GOVERNMENTS responsibility and they should have swallowed their pride and went to the GOVERNOR a loooong time ago and asked for some suggestions.
I’m glad the governor has taken things into his own hands, and I cannot wait for Mr. Hogan-Howe to get here and clean up these streets.
@Can You See Me Now
Hey, if more UK comes means less crime, let them come Lol.
GOD BLESS THE QUEEN!
“These judges are too soft.”
On what basis do you have to say that? Because some right-wing rag in the UK asserts this is the case?
Working in the English criminal justice system, I can guarantee you that the idea of ‘liberal judges’ is not one shared by many. In fact, liberal judges cut quite the lonesome figures in this country.
IT WOULD BE SOME ISH IF HE GOT SHOT HIMSELF
No way! He’d just turn into RoboCop and be even more of a threat to crime in Bermuda.
Its going to be interesting how people think he is going to come here and fix everything, in April the Bermuda Police were running around wondering where they were gonna get the money to pay their officers. All of a sudden, there is money to import another team of consultants and pay them for their vacation. Outside help isnt going to solve Bermudas problems. Bermudians have to solve Bermudas problems. There are people who know who shot who and who witnessed it all. In order for the problem to be solved, they need to come foward and open their mouths. Until then, the consultants are gonna be made stinking rich!!!
I tottally agree Percival. How long he gonna here for a week or two, and all of a sudden he will have all the answers? The problem is we keep looking to the old mother country for the answers. The only thing English about this country is the Language and that’s not too English either. This is American style gang violence maybe we should see how the Americans are dealing with it.
Have you read the article? The BDA government won’t be paying for anything except accomodation and flights.
I’m encouraged by the Governor actually intervening. I wish he had intervened while the shootings still had serious shock value here.
He’s damed if he does and damed if he don’t according to the “Faithfull” how fitting everyone the “faithfull” doesn’t like is painted the same way from OBA to the Governor. At the end of the day they want to deal with it themselves yet they would do nothing…………………………
LOL
Is that a crystal ball in his hand ?
Just Sayn, are you implying something here ot are you just being a freekin idiot….
If my memory serves me correct, the last TOP UK COP came when Johnaton Smith was top COP. A million recommendations were made, and if you look at the police service today, it is a direct result of these overseas idiots who know nothing about our way of life, or what works best in Bermuda. I find it odd that when we look at the numbers of police officers over the last 10+ years, we see less yet have more. First there was an influx of officers from the UK, but they all ended up behind desks. Next we saw waves of officers from the Carribean, most of these officers ended up on the front line, allowing for more expierenced officers to be placed in other areas.
Whats truly amazing is that at one time Police officers also did jobs that civilians now do throughout the service.
So why is it that there are more officers on the payroll, yet less officers on the front line.
There used to be Parish Constables – who went into the schools, provided services for fairs, funerals and other public events.
There used to be a visible motorcycle section – conducting speed traps, looking for stolen cycles.
There used to be a visible marine section – patrolling the waters during cruise ship season
The list goes on and on and on.
So if what we currently have is a direct result of the last UK Top COP visit, i would suggest he stay his ARSE in the UK.
Wish the powers that be would get back to basics, this island needs it
Just as I feared: HE the Governor, apparently with the full support of the local Police, has invited HM Inspector of Constabulary to come to Bermuda to see if he can help us in any way, and all of a sudden it’s a racial/political issue. I personally don’t give a damn where he’s from, what colour he is, or what his politics are: if there’s a chance that he can help to discourage lawlessness in Bermuda, bring him in!
So typical, damned if you do damned if you don’t. Everyone wants change, but then we get all nit picky about what needs to change. Anything is better than nothing imo.
well i am a bermudian that has now moved to the UK. people of bermuda listen to me now. i have lived in the worst part of Nottingham and even there the crime rate was very low. i read in the newspapers that one knife,robbery happend for the week end and for murder one every couple of weeks. the population here is one million. ten times that of bermuda and the crime rate is very low. i feel safer here than i did in bermuda. bermuda is in the mess it is becuse of the poeple. when the police used to knock drug dealers off there bikes and be ruff and tuff the people would start crying and complaining so the police force change to a service. so thank yourself and start to unite and fight back. it starts in your own back yards first. ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!