The Bermuda Police Service have admitted they were not allowed to “vet” footage included in a new British TV show about fighting crime on the island, despite claims they made to the contrary last year.

Their mistaken remarks about Policing Paradise, a 15-part series produced by Spun Gold Studios that began airing on Monday, were exposed by a blogger who made a complaint to the BBC about the programme potentially breaching its editorial standards.

The BBC told the blogger that a press release issued last year by the BPS about the series was inaccurate, and Martin Weekes, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, confirmed that yesterday in a statement to The Royal Gazette.

The BPS press release, issued on July 1 last year, stated: “This TV programme is designed to show Bermuda, the BPS and the RBR [Royal Bermuda Regiment] Coastguard in a good light, while encouraging UK citizens to consider visiting the island.

“All footage will be thoroughly reviewed by the BPS senior leadership team before being released for inclusion in the series.

“Likewise, all proposed episodes will be vetted by the BPS before release for broadcast.”

The press release, issued by the media relations department of the BPS, said film crews had arrived on the island and begun following officers as they attended calls for service, with a focus on “feel-good” stories involving officers and their daily working lives.

The release quoted Mr Weekes as saying: “We encourage the public to help make the film crew welcome while they are here, as they are here to show Bermuda in a positive light.”

The press release prompted an anonymous blogger, writing on their own bermudapolice.com website, to question the impartiality of the programme and to complain to the BBC about the issue.

The blogger received a response on March 20, which stated: “The police press release to which you refer is factually incorrect.

“The BBC does not give editorial control to contributors; we have, however, worked with the Bermuda Police Service to ensure factual accuracy, as is standard practice.”

The response continued: “We’ve read and noted your points but don’t consider they suggest evidence of a possible breach of standards.”

Mr Weekes said yesterday: “I can confirm that the BBC statement is correct and that the BPS did in fact review all episodes purely to verify factual accuracy.

“The BPS neither sought nor were given ‘editorial control’ of the content for broadcast, which remained entirely with the BBC.”

The television programme comes at a time when Bermuda’s citizens are still waiting for the BPS to release crime statistics for 2023 and 2024 (see separate story).

It will mean viewers in Britain and around the world can watch police activity that took place here last year but which has yet to be collated into an official report for taxpayers.

The Gazette has reached out to the blogger and the BBC for comment.