THE under-staffed Bermuda Police Service is looking overseas for new recruits as the force comes to terms with the loss of a host of officers whose short-term contracts expire this year.

Deputy Police Commissioner George Jackson is now in London with a recruiting team and another team is due to go to the Caribbean in February.

Police spokesman Dwayne Caines confirmed yesterday that the service currently has 415 officers, when a full establishment would be 436.

The Mid-Ocean News has discovered that many police officers in an apparently already stretched force are now being asked to work seven days in a row, followed by two days off, as a regular shift pattern - something that we were told was unpopular among staff.

In addition to the challenges facing the service, the Police Complaints Authority has a backlog of more than 200 cases, this newspaper understands.

Acting Labour, Home Affairs & Public Safety Minister Senator David Burch did not respond to questions on the Police Service faxed to him yesterday.

Acting Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley called for more openness on the true situation in the service, from both the Government and the police. And he suggested that Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith "was finding himself handcuffed".

In 2000, Bermuda Police recuited around 45 officers from overseas, mostly from the Caribbean and the UK, on three-year contracts.

Mr. Caines said yesterday: "There are approximately 36 officers remaining that came from England and the Caribbean just under three years ago. We anticipate that some of the officers will be offered future contracts."

He added that the campaign to attract Bermudians into the force was also in full swing.

"Presently Recruitment Foundation Course 62 is in its seventh week with ten officers," said Mr. Caines. Our local recruiting campaign will commence at the beginning of February with a full slate of television, radio and print ads. We will also make appearances on radio talk shows. We are committed to local recruiting and we anticipate the next recruit course to begin in June."

Three years ago, the then-Labour & Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox said the force would be trimmed down to 420 officers and in future she hoped local recruiting would be sufficient to keep the force at that level.

Ms Cox said at that time: "It is intended within a three-year period the establishment can be further reduced as redeployment is effected in accordance with the plan. I expect a final establishment of 420 can be achieved.

"This is a figure which, with the continuing and improving enhancements to the recruiting process, should be maintainable from local recruiting."

And she said she did not rule out an all-Bermudian police force.

Deputy Commissioner Jackson's trip to London suggests the Government now accepts an influx of more overseas officers will be necessary.

This newspaperhas seen a police work schedule that indicates police officers have significant amounts of overtime built into their regular working pattern and that the force may be stretched with its current manpower.

It shows that many officers are working seven days in a row, followed by two days off, followed by another seven-day work stretch.

In the example shown to this newspaper, the officer started work on January 10 and worked right through until and including January 16. Then the officer had two days off in theory, but in practice he was back at work by 11.45 p.m. on January 18, the second of those days off.

Then it was back to work for seven more days, followed by two days off. In this case, the dates have been changed to protect the source.

Our source told us that many officers were concerned about the schedule and had supported the introduction of a different working pattern that had been tried experimentally in the fall of 2001.

Under that system, officers worked ten-hour shifts for five days in a row, followed by two days off, and then another five long shifts followed by four days off.

The experiment proved popular with officers, who had hoped it would be introduced on a permanent and island-wide basis, but it did not happen, added the source.

Mr. Caines said: "It is not unusual for overtime to be incurred in operational policing duties and there is a specific budget that exists for that purpose.

"However, senior management continues to work actively with the Bermuda Police Association on examining alternative shift schedules that will better address operational needs and welfare issues."

He added that the seven-day-on-two-day-off shift pattern was consistent with the normal schedule of an operational police officer.

Mr. Dunkley said good relations between police and public were vital for the island. And if manpower was short and complaints against the service were not being dealt with, those relations would deteriorate.

And he said ensuring that the contabulary had adequate staffing levels should not need to be a political issue.

"The police service needs to have a good relationship and good communication with the people of Bermuda and we need to become more open on both sides," said Mr. Dunkley.

"My opinion is that relationship's faltering and it's hurting the police in their ability to do their work. For example, police are going to find it very difficult to investigate crime if they don't get the help they need."

The work schedule shown to this newspaper showed that officers were being overworked, he added.

"These shifts put too much emphasis on people," said Mr. Dunkley. "They could lead to sickness, because people will get run down and that will lead to more problems with shift coverage. We keep seeing evidence of that in the news.

"We in the United Bermuda Party have been hugely concerned about the issue of police manpower for a long time.

"A report on the Police Service was done a couple of years ago and it showed that one of the critical areas was manpower. I think that report has been taken and shelved."

In 1999, Mr. Dunkley led Opposition calls in Parliament for the Government to recruit police officers from overseas to bolster the 'Thin Blue Line'. The arrival of 45 overseas officers the following year helped, but their imminent departure will offer a new manpower challenge.

"Unfortunately, the secondment of these officers has run out, and you also have to take into account the effects of natural attrition," said Mr. Dunkley.

"In something as large as the Police Service natural attrition could see the loss of 35 to 40 people in a year, when we are only recruiting around 20 locally.

"We have a serious situation and the public need to be told what's going on by the police hierarchy. But I think they in a difficult position and that the Commissioner is finding himself handcuffed."

On the Police Complaints Authority's backlog of around 200 cases, Mr. Dunkley said: "All these cases mean that there are a lot of people there who have not had their situation resolved. If that work had been done, those people would be more positive about the Police Service.

"There is no excuse for having a backlog like this. This is one area we should be keeping current at all times."

Bermuda's internal security comes under the remit of Government House, but Deputy Governor Tim Gurney was off the island yesterday and unavailable for comment.