Police Service Presents Annual Policing Plan
Commissioner of Police Michael DeSilva today [May 14] revealed the Bermuda Police Service Annual Policing Plan for 2013/14.
Commissioner DeSilva said, “I am pleased to present the 2013/14 Annual Policing Plan for the Bermuda Police Service [BPS]. This is the second of three plans under our three-year Strategic Plan for 2012 to 2015.
“The plan is aligned with the financial year 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014 so that available funding and operational priorities are considered together. It has been prepared in consultation with His Excellency the Governor and the Minister for Public Safety.
“The final document represents the shared aims across the community for the police to deliver a high quality of service that is focused on people and aimed at safety.
“Our operational priorities remain the same as the last three years: we are focused on those crimes that are of most concern to the community and that cause the greatest harm: GUNS, GANGS, DRUGS and VIOLENCE.
“Our work this year will not only be aimed at “Making Bermuda Safer,” but making Bermuda feel safer as well. In our small community the fear of crime is just as important as the actual crimes themselves.
“We will therefore focus our work on five basic policing functions:
- Bring dangerous offenders to justice.
- Make our neighbourhoods safer.
- Reduce the fear of crime.
- Provide visible, accessible and effective patrols.
- Calm the traffic on our roads.
“Some of the key initiatives in the plan include:
- Increased capacity to seize criminal assets and cash
- Expansion of CCTV across the island
- Increased visibility and accessibility of uniformed police officers
- Selective Traffic Enforcement Programme (STEP) aimed at dangerous driving behaviours with strict enforcement
- An anti-corruption framework that includes a drug testing policy and an enhanced vetting policy for sensitive areas of the Service like firearms, drugs and intelligence
- A Call Centre to provide support for non-emergency calls that do not require an immediate police response
- Partnerships with the Island’s schools to deliver joined-up education and prevention initiatives on gang resistance, drug awareness and road safety.
- Expansion of the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and the Community Action Groups (CAGs) in partnership with the Ministry of Public Safety
- The development of a Code of Practice, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Safety, for the planning and safe management of large public events
- A review of the Bermuda Reserve Police in order to get the most effective use out of their volunteer hours
- And internally, we will conduct training and implement programmes to maintain a quality and skilled workforce that is healthy, motivated, and properly equipped.”
The Annual Plan 2013/14 follows below:
DeSilvas new plan; This strategy is good but I have my doubts
“Bring dangerous offenders to justice” if you cannot catch them how can you bring them to justice
“Make our neighborhoods safer” this will only work if your staff actually do patrols of “our” neighborhoods
“Reduce the fear of crime” people can only have their fears and concerns reduced if they see a police service doing its job, all we see is brute force and ignorance and a total disregard for those taxpayers who pay your salary, the police have completely lost the community support it once had.
“Provide visible, accessible and effective patrols” when you see them they are visible but completely ineffective .
“Calm the traffic on our roads” good luck and I hope that same initiative applies to those who are employed by the BPS
And then he goes on to basically dismiss corruption within the BPS…really!! I guess if your head is in the sand you won’t see anything around you. The FACT is DeSilva GUNS, GANGS and DRUGS have flourished under your watch and you stand there with at least you believing you have the solution, why not step aside and let someone do the job that would get support and actually get the job done its clear in and out of that service that strong leadership doesn’t exist. Bermuda is clawing its way back from almost being recognized as having a corrupt and disrespectful Goverment, now we need someone to help claw us back from being labeled a third world and dangerous destination with a very large number of gun crimes being committed.
Isn’t this plan what the Police should be doing anyway? What were they doing before the damn plan came out! I am actually a fan of the Police but their direction is obviously lacking! New leadership is needed! The top bosses all seem like robots !
I agree and made that point and more but it looks like it was censored, the guy at the top has been at the top when during the increase inthe guns crimes,killings and now he looks to have the answer?? get rid of him and put someoneone in there that has the support of the local community and the cops and maybe then Bermuda can once again enjoy the status of being a safe destination.
Maybe these guys should wake up. They need to concentrate their efforts on lowering their budget. These clowns have multiple buildings in Hamilton that they are paying stupid money for, coming out of taxpayer dollars, whilst there is plenty of vacant offices at prospect Police Head Quarters, that just have to be refurbished.
The money they spend on rent in Hamilton could go to bettering programs to prevent crime. You have places like The Salvation Army and the Brangman Home that have struggled for years for funds, to try and better people’s life’s. Then you have the top Brass at the BPS that only worry about how nice there offices are. Dear Minister of Public Safety (or whatever your department is called now) and Minister of W&E go take a tour of Police Head Quarters and see how much office space is being wasted. All you need to do is some renovations that will safe you big in rent.
Gefore you start jumping to conclusions John, take a step back approximately two years when the new LBE Building was about to open. This building was designed and designated to be used solely by Police and Courts, but under the then PLP Government, other Civil Service Heads selected prime areas in the building. Why did Planning have to move from the Government Administration Building, a relatively new building, into the Penthouse of the LBE Building? Likewise Cultural Affairs, Sport etc. The accomodation at Prospect had been a health hazard for decades with asbestos problems. Several officers have succumbed to painful cancerous deaths which were almost certainly caused by the unhealthy environment at Prospect. So don’t blame the Police for having to find alternative office space. Blame W&E and the other Government Departments for causing the problem by allocating space in the new building to departments who already had a habitable and healthy working area.
O.K. maybe the point I am trying to make is being misunderstood. I am not saying slash the Police budget nor am I saying that I am not pro Police. To the A$$ that is saying tell my people to behave, who are my people?? I think you might be a racist but guess what I am not. The point that I am making is that there is a lot of space at prospect that could be worked on and brought back to health and Safety standards for one to work in. As far as the whole place being condemned for health and safety reasons is BS. They still have the training school up there and other units. So sell your hype to someone else. I am not blaming the Police for this, they are not the decision makers in where they are going to be housed. Now that there is a new government in maybe they could look at the alternative of re developing Prospect to not have to pay exuberant rents in Hamilton and at the same time put W&E workers to work. So I apologize my original post came out wrong, but do not at all think for one minute I do not respect what the Police do in the community. I do not respect the fact that the people’s money is being mismanaged.
idiot it was not the police’s fault they are in multiple buildings, it was plp governments fault for not making room for those departments and the senior management of the police.That building was originally meant for police and court services before the minister at the time decided to move in the dept of planning. The buildings at police HQ are being evacuated to clear out mold and asbestos. As far reducing their budget, policing to the level we the people expect cost alot of money and uses alot of resources. If you want the budget reduced, tell your people behave themselves. Officers are working 12 hour shifts for 7 days and being called in on their days off to work to make up the numbers, how many hours a day do you work. Who you think the sunshine league calls when their troubled kids get violent.
Will the BPS avg. salary of $94,000 be subject to trimming as the rest of the Civil Service?
“Increased capacity to seize criminal assets and cash”
Shocker.