An article in yesterday's Mid-Ocean News which claimed the Police Service was "in danger of meltdown'' has been blasted as inaccurate and irresponsible by the Island's top cop.

And at a press conference yesterday Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay rounded on the weekly newspaper for failing to give him a chance to respond to the allegations.

Yesterday's front page story, completed after "an extensive investigation'' and quoting a number of "sources close to the force'', alleged that the Service was "in serious trouble, dogged by a frightening array of problems''.

The article claimed crime rates had shot up dramatically, morale was completely lacking, management was not accountable, officers were inexperienced and that the Task Force was "out of control''.

But Mr. Lemay tore into the article, dismissing most of the claims as complete untruths.

A clearly upset Mr. Lemay told reporters from The Royal Gazette , ZBM and VSB that the article, by news editor Rebecca Zuill, made broad sweeping statements that "are totally inaccurate and equally irresponsible''.

And he questioned whether the newspaper had an agenda against the Police Service, pointing out that negative stories about the force had been published by the weekly for three successive issues.

"We query why Ms Zuill never even bothered -- once again -- to seek a response from the Service or, more particularly, myself. regarding these allegations,'' Mr. Lemay said.

"We were told that timeliness didn't permit. I would think that, in the interests of balance and journalistic responsibility and accountability, they would have made the time before going to print.'' Mr. Lemay then proceeded to refute one by one the claims -- made by anonymous sources -- in the article.

"There has been no dramatic rise in crime. The first quarter statistics indicate that there was a three percent rise in crime over last year. Cycle removals and thefts -- opportunistic crimes -- accounted for the slight increase overall.'' The story also said crime statistics were being kept from the public, although The Royal Gazette published a story on the statistics for the first quarter of this year just last month.

"Crime statistics are provided to the media for publication and will continue to be provided so the facts are before you and irresponsible speculation need not occur,'' the Commissioner said.

"It's been alleged that the public have been kept out of the loop. Not so.

There are night classes that are free and open to the public to attend. The REACH programme and the successful GREAT programme in all the schools has been a highly effective outreach tool to our young people. In addition there are the talk shows, open forums, Outward Bound and other programmes.'' Mr. Lemay denied a claim that 90 percent of those employed at the Police headquarters at Prospect had less than three years of service. He added that the Emergency Response Team had been trained and equipped and that there had been only one occasion when a debriefing had not been done.

He also denied that officers were leaving the force in droves, claiming that about 30 officers left each year upon reaching retirement age.

Lemay hits back But Mr. Lemay did concede that morale was low, but attributed this to the current manpower shortage, the lack of a Police contract and below standard facilities -- issues which, he claimed, were all being addressed.

He said a new contract would be expected to be agreed within the next two weeks.

Last night Ms Zuill, who had had a "very frank'' conversation with the Commissioner following the publication of the article, defended the claims, saying she had spoken to "very highly placed sources''.

"I suppose I could have called the Commissioner, but that's always a judgment call,'' she said.

"I have no agenda against the Police. In fact my grandfather served as a Police officer for his entire career. But I was merely conveying to the public the honest and deeply felt concerns of several people very closely connected to the Police Service. I think that made it a valid story and something the public had a right to know about.

"As the mother of two young girls, if I have any agenda it's that Bermuda should have a high standard of policing. Like everyone in the community I rely on the Police to provide a secure environment for them to grow up in.''