community Parish constables to the rapid response Island-wide troubleshooting Task Force.

And Mr. Perinchief called for extra manpower to be drafted in to the force to mount an effective war on crime.

The former Assistant Commissioner said Police had to operate on two levels -- dealing with short-term crises and carrying out long-term goals.

He said: "Both these goals can only be carried out by shifting manpower from one unit to another.

"No commander can win a war without having sufficient resources and troops at his disposal.'' He called for a major recruitment drive to recruit Bermudians, backed with short-term recruitment of officers from overseas if needed to solve a manpower problem stretching back years.

And he said he wanted the Police Cadet programme, axed last year, should be introduced and the Police Reserve beefed up even further.

Mr. Perinchief was speaking at a Progressive Labour Party forum on Thursday night on crime, violence and youth at Pembroke Community Centre. On the panel were Mr. Perinchief, PLP Pembroke West by-election candidate Rodney Smith and Sen. Neletha Butterfield.

And he told the audience the media hype surrounding the drugsbusting Operation Cleansweep should never have happened.

He said he doubted last summer's swoop on street drug dealers would have a lasting effect.

Mr. Perinchief said the entire operation was "`highly politicised'' and said he was still waiting on an assault on dealers higher up the scale.

He added: "The business of arresting people and incarcerating them is a serious business.

"It has a profound effect on the individual and a profound effect on society.

It shouldn't be an event -- it should be a systematic approach.'' He said: "The people you see on the street are the lowest level. They come and go and are replaced -- they're expendable.'' And he added: "It was a good effort to remove the nuisance -- I don't think it will have a long term, lasting impact.'' Mr. Perinchief added that the Police was "an excellent body of men and women with sound, dedicated leadership'' and dedicated to law and order in Bermuda.

But he said the force and its Commissioners did not have maximum support from the community it protects.

He added: "The Police have been fulfilling their responsibilities despite: Increasing violence and drug abuse; Bad attitudes to the Police in general; No moral support or thanks from the community for jobs well done and; Insufficient public funding to bring the Police establishment up to full strength.'' Mr. Perinchief was made redundant in January, 1996 after moves to slim down the Police hierarchy by then-Commissioner Colin Coxall.

But in March, 1997, Government reached an out-of-court settlement with Mr.

Perinchief, whose legal team argued he had been dismissed illegally because the needed legislation had not been passed.

Government paid an undisclosed sum in damages and costs and all other legal proceedings on both sides were dropped.

Mr. Perinchief said after Thursday night's meeting he had no bitterness towards the Police Service and backed Acting Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay.

He added: "I just had a problem with the method in which a long-serving member of the service, apparently successful in what he did, found he was no longer wanted or needed.

"I'll always love the Police Service and be totally committed to policing.''