The Bermuda Police Service is embarking on an accreditation programme that promises to bring some real changes to the service over the next two years.

Police are hoping that by 2005 the service will be recognised by the American based Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) which promotes standardised professionalism among law enforcement agencies.

But before it can join the independent accrediting authority, which counts 80 percent of the US law enforcement profession as members, the Bermuda Police service will have to comply with the CALEA's 439 dictated standards.

Aiming to comply with all 439 within two years, there are many improvements which need to take place in order to standardise the Police's procedures, according to a Police press release this week.

Improvements include upgrading the conditions of all prisoner detention facilities, a new system for handling crime exhibits and the development of comprehensive guidelines and check lists to help criminal investigators.

Though Police already fulfil some of CALEA's standards, written policies will be required to formalise these current practices.

It is planned that in two years an on-site inspection team will visit the Island to determine whether the Bermuda force is in compliance with CALEA's criterion.

Despite being an American based organisation, the Police said in a report last week: "The programme does not require the Bermuda Police Service to become a clone of North American police agencies.

"Neither does it mean we are embarking on a totally new path. This accreditation process dovetails with the current strategies of the Bermuda Police Service."

CALEA, which was formed in 1979, was established by a number of major membership associations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the American Organisation of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

They designed the commission to provide law enforcement agencies an opportunity to voluntarily demonstrate that they meet an established set of professional standards.