been delayed two months because of an office blunder.

Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay confirmed the Police Service was operating under-strength at Sergeant level last night.

He said it was "unfortunate'' that 20 constables had been working as acting sergeants for up to two years and were still awaiting promotion.

But he said the officers would now have to wait until the end of July to be considered for the next rank, instead of the end of May as originally planned.

Mr. Lemay blamed "an administrative error'' for the delays in the promotions process.

The top officer said an extra six constables, who sat promotions exams in March, did not have their papers marked in time to be considered for a round of interviews in May.

Their exams were marked late because the correcting officer had been sent to a course in the UK, he added.

One of the six constables who missed the cut-off date filed a grievance to Mr.

Lemay, who accepted the complaints and allowed the officers to face an interview panel at the end of July.

But the other 20 constables, who had been working as acting sergeants, had already passed previous promotions exams -- and also passed the interview in May.

Now they have to wait for the six officers, who have no experience as acting sergeants, to sit before the same interviewing panel before they will know if they can finally be promoted.

Mr. Lemay wants all officers who have passed the exam and interview to be considered for promotion at the same time.

He denied claims from some Police that he was "trying to be everybody's friend'' and was not putting the Service first.

But one angry officer told The Royal Gazette Bermuda only had 37 Sergeants, instead of 52.

He added: "Crucial decisions aren't being acted on and Mr. Lemay is trying to appease everyone to the detriment of the overall service.

"There have been no promotions to Sergeant level for two years and many people have been working long-term in acting positions.

"There is a very real need to fill these positions but everything is in limbo right now.

"It's a case of the Commissioner trying to keep everyone happy and the goalposts have been moved, which just doesn't work.

"The fact that these promotions have been delayed also affects promotions to Inspector and Chief Inspector, right up to Assistant Commissioner. In other words, it affects the Government's ultimate plan to fill the Commissioner's shoes with a Bermudian.

"Even Superintendent Alan Bissell is still acting in the position of Assistant Commissioner.'' Promotions Supt. Bissell initially told the group of six officers they could not be considered for the latest batch of promotions and would have to wait.

But the officers will now be interviewed when Mr. Bissell returns from leave.

Supt. Campbell Simons will also have his retirement delayed by a week so he can sit on the panel.

Both officers have to be available because they conducted the May interviews.

Mr. Lemay told The Royal Gazette : "This is not about me trying to win popularity. This is not about being a nice guy.

"I made a decision that in all fairness, this was an administrative error.

"We should have marked the exams before the officer went to the UK or asked another officer to mark the exams of those six candidates.

"All the officers hoping for promotion deserved to go through the same process. Otherwise, those six officers would have said the system was flawed, unfair and the cards were stacked against them.

"The fact that the other 20 officers have had to wait up to two years is unfortunate. But there are some situations sometimes that involve delays.'' He said the 15 promotions would be decided by the end of July -- and Bermuda would also have a new Sergeant to look after Crimestoppers.