officers will get training overseas next year, the Commissioner revealed yesterday.

Colin Coxall also said he hoped to install more close circuit television to monitor drug dealers and strengthen the Police Service by civilianising more posts.

Mr. Coxall, who is more than half-way through his three-year contract, also said he believed training programmes put into place would help the Governor choose his successor.

The Commissioner was speaking yesterday on achievements in 1996 and work still to be done in 1997.

On training, Mr. Coxall said thousands of man hours had been spent on training officers.

"It was hauling back this organisation from a position where it was seriously undertrained,'' he said.

Mr. Coxall said that by the end of 1997, about 50 percent of Chief Inspectors will have received overseas training.

In addition, 60 percent of Inspectors will also have gone abroad for training.

There will also be secondments -- with two Chief Inspectors swapping with officers abroad for six months.

"It is like doing a refit of a ship while it is at sea still doing 30 knots.

Ideally you want to bring the ship into port, but you cannot do that,'' said the Commissioner.

In the future a Sergeant will be sent overseas for training on crime prevention and an overseas consultant will be brought in to help the officer draw up a national crime prevention strategy to cover four or five years.

And the civilianisation programme will also continue -- with another 42 posts which Mr. Coxall wants to civilianise over the next couple of years.

One of the Chief Inspectors being seconded overseas will be George Jackson, head of narcotics, who will swap with a Chief Inspector from London.

"A narcotics officer from central London will come out to Bermuda for six months giving a very considerable boost to our abilities to handle narcotics,'' said Mr. Coxall.

In addition the Police Service could buy more CCTV equipment to monitor activities of drug dealers and it is hoped the Proceeds of Crime Bill will kick in, allowing Police to confiscate the profits from drug dealing.

"Something like 80 percent of the people we are dealing with have a drug problem. If we could stop drugs we could go a long way towards stopping crime in Bermuda.'' The Commissioner has been in Bermuda for about 20 months and both he, the Governor and the Government say they remain committed to Bermudianisation of the Police Service.

"We are addressing the whole area of training senior management and from that will come the likely successors,'' he said.

"It is a matter for the Governor in conjunction with the Public Service Commission and the Government to decide who are the more able officers to succeed at the right time.

"I am sure every effort will be put into finding a successor and I am sure that the programmes we have put in place will enable the Governor to perform the function of finding a successor,'' said Mr. Coxall.

He said there had been enormous change in the 18 months since his Service Strategy was published and that the community was responding well.

"Overall my relationship with the community at large has been extraordinarily good. I find that my relationship with leaders of the community is better now than it has ever been.'' CRIME CRM