POLICE officers have been barred from attending overseas training programmes, according to unconfirmed reports.

And the rumour has prompted an angry response from the Opposition United Bermuda Party, which has accused Public Safety Minister David Burch (pictured) of "gross interference" in the Service.

The Mid-Ocean News first heard reports of the block last week, although a police spokesman refused to either confirm or deny the claim.

However, yesterday, UBP leader Michael Dunkley urged the Minister to clarify the situation ¿ and demanded to know the reason behind the policy if it was true.

Mr. Dunkley said: "We want to register our grave concern at reports that the Minister for Public Safety has cancelled overseas training for police officers.

"We understand that police training courses beyond those already scheduled and paid for in September will now not be allowed without the Minister's personal approval. This is an unprecedented and gross interference in the operations of the Police Service. We believe it will damage morale and effectiveness.

"We see it is an extraordinary and counter-productive step at a time when the police are battling unprecedented increases in violent crime ¿ the fourth quarter of 2006 was the most violent on record ¿ and the deeply troubling emergence of gangs in our midst.

"Instead of constricting training opportunities, the Police Service should be given the resources and support to expand opportunities for officers to develop the special skills that this community sorely needs. In particular, we believe this move by Col. Burch will make police counter-narcotics work more difficult, given that the overseas training budget provides funding for counter-narcotics training with law enforcement agencies in the USA and Jamaica.

"The police training budget is typically less than one per cent of the entire police budget. But it supports ongoing training for about 50 officers annually - training that is essential for ensuring that individual officers possess the most up-to-date skills and knowledge.

"Much of the budget is devoted to highly specialised training to help Police combat narcotics, serious and organised crime and anti-gang training. It takes years of advanced, highly technical training to develop officer skills to optimum levels. In some cases, that training is not just necessary to maintain their specialist skills but also to maintain their accreditation.

"Would-be officers need the assurance that they are going to be involved in a professional environment - one that provides them with merit-based opportunities for advancement. The knowledge that there may be political interference in their career development will make local and overseas recruitment much more difficult than it already is. The knowledge that a government minister personally vets their career training needs introduces an unnecessary element of uncertainty into the idea of a police career in Bermuda.

"We consider the Minister's intervention to be nothing short of meddling. It calls into question the Police Commissioner's authority, his decision-making powers and his mandate to develop the most highly motivated, dedicated and skilled officer corps possible. It also threatens the integrity of a system in which the selection of officers for overseas training is a ground-up, performance-based process with recommendations coming from supervisors.

"We also are concerned about the Minister's apparent ambition to shape the Police Service without any apparent guidelines. What grounds will he use to determine who gets further training and who does not? What considerations is he bringing to bear beyond what the Commissioner needs to meet Service objectives and what his supervisors recommend to meet those objectives?

"We urge members of the press and the public to push the minister to explain himself. This is too serious a matter for the Government to say 'no comment'.

"On another level, we believe that Col. Burch's interference in police training contradicts his own Government's policy of hiring overseas specialist officers. These officers are brought in for specific reasons, and with the understanding that they require ongoing training to maintain their proficiency and skills. Interfering with these established needs can do no good."

In June, Sen. Burch said Government lacked the ability to tackle crime because the Police Service came under the authority of the Governor, rather than the Minister. That argument was later dismissed by Deputy Police Commissioner Roseanda Young, who said crime fighting was a team effort between the Governor, Government and the police.

Sen. Burch did not respond to e-mailed questions from the Mid-Ocean News by press time last night.