Commissioner are to be identified may simply be an exercise in cosmetics.

Those of Chief Inspector and above have been told how the complicated assessment exercise will be conducted in December. Politically that is probably the only thing the Government could do but the results are not likely to be ready until February and in the meantime we are not looking outside for a new Commissioner.

The truth is that senior officers have already been assessed several times and anyone who has read the second report by the Inspector of Dependent Territories Police, Lionel Grundy, which this newspaper printed in text on Monday, knows that his opinion is that no Bermudian can be trained in less than some ten years.

What does that tell you? It says that those at the more senior levels of the Police Service, for one reason or another, cannot be thought of as future Commissioners. It also says that there is talent at the lower levels but it will take training to get those officers up to the standard required of a good Commissioner. To appoint them now would set them up for failure.

It is important to remember that Bermuda went outside for the two senior Police officers because it was recognised that there were serious problems within the Police Service. When they were brought in, Bermuda had a crime crisis and the public wanted action. In less than three years the improvements made within the Service and the drop in crime figures are little short of a miracle. Colin Coxall did not do it all by himself but he certainly led a moribund Police Service back to credibility and success.

It seems to us that the proposed assessment and recent remarks by Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness may be misleading the public into thinking that a new Bermudian Commissioner is going to come out of this review. That is highly unlikely. If that were to happen it would indicate to the people that Government was taking a serious risk for political expediency.

The truth is that Government failed to think through the implications of pushing Commissioner Colin Coxall out of Bermuda. The ramifications in terms of a loss of public trust and confidence are enormous. We have also lost the support of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency to finish the second and most important phase of Operation Cleansweep: importation of drugs. We have badly damaged our chances of finding any Commissioner of ability and stature simply because no-one will want to face the political bloodbath, the personal threats and the character assassination which Colin Coxall has undergone at the hands of the Government and the Opposition.

It seems now that no substantive Commissioner of Police is likely to be appointed until after a General Election. We think the United Bermuda Party Government will be most unlikely to face the storm of controversy the Opposition will launch during the election campaign if another non-Bermudian has to be appointed.

Government now has to hope that crime figures do not start to climb. But more than that, Mr. Edness has a responsibility to successfully implement part two of Operation Cleansweep. It will not be easy.