Police staffing in Bermuda has fallen to its lowest levels in more than 40 years, but the search has begun for fresh recruits.

Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of Police, said that there were a total of 360 officers in the service, including 14 student officers undergoing training.

“No record, as far back to 1979, shows staffing levels this low and certainly not with our current gang challenges,” Mr Simons said.

“Officer numbers need to rise in order for the BPS to effectively respond to violent firearm crime.

“Rest assured the women and men in the BPS remain committed to and focused on, their mission to make Bermuda safer. The BPS continue to work with the Minister of National Security, and Government as a whole, to ensure we are adequately resourced to meet our mandate.

“To that end, with Government’s approval, we are progressing both local and overseas recruitment.”

Mr Simons said the BPS were in the process of selecting recruits for their next training course. It is hoped that 25 new officers will begin training in November.

He also noted that the Government provided funding last year for the purchase of an additional ten police cars.

“It is anticipated our fleet will be further enhanced with the purchasing of an additional seven cars later this year, through funding provided by the Government,” he said.

“Our efforts will also be bolstered with the updated CCTV camera system, soon expected to be fully operational.”

The news came as the island reels from a series of tragedies.

On Wednesday, two men were shot dead near Fort Scaur in Somerset. Last Sunday, a family of four, including two young children, were found dead at a house on South Terrace, Pembroke.

Last month, Diante Trimm, a 37-year-old mother of five, was shot dead.

Earlier this year, Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security, said that the BPS had lost 19 police officers during the 2023-24 period.

He said at the time: “It’s something that nobody wants to admit, but I think that we have to face the fact that we have to fill these posts

“If we cannot in the immediate term fill them with Bermudian men and women, we’ll have to come to the realisation that we may have to go overseas until we can get our recruits up to scratch in our new cadet programme.”

Mr Weeks also conceded that recruitment had been a struggle, but it was hoped that more than 100 officers would be recruited this year.

Last year, the BPS received more than 100 applications, but only nine made it into the training course after the majority of applicants failed the health and fitness or psychological tests.

Police were given the go-ahead to open recruitment for non-Bermudians on the island, and this was expected to bring in about 15 more recruits.

However, Mr Weeks said that the BPS were not able to recruit many new officers, and had 52 new recruits across emergency services after trying to recruit 78.

The Ministry of National Security has an operational budget of $137,759,000 for this financial year, with an additional $8,160,375 dedicated to capital funding.

Of this amount, the BPS were given more than $64 million, with an additional $1.6 million for capital projects.

However David Burt, the Premier, announced in the wake of recent tragedies that the Government was committed to provide the necessary resources to end the cycle of violence.

“I will make sure that the resources that are necessary are made available. You cannot be such a wealthy country and a wealthy society and not make sure that you put the resources where necessary.”