Bermuda’s Police Service now have a complement of 378 officers, with more expected to join the ranks soon.

Darrin Simons, Bermuda’s Commissioner of Police, said while the number puts the service at 18 more officers than in July 2024, when BPS staffing was at a 45-year-low, the organisation would “love to see more”.

He said the BPS had concluded that 420 officers would be an adequate number “when there were significant financial constraints in the economy”.

Mr Simons added: “When we hit that 420, there has to be a look at what the level of service the community and government expect from the police and how many police officers does it take to deliver that service.”

Twenty-two officers joined the BPS in May, 14 others are expected to complete recruitment in October, and about 15 are set to start training in November.

Applicants must pass medical, psychological and other evaluations to qualify for training — nine were chosen in 2023 from more than 100 total applications.

Mr Simons said: “There are many steps in the process, so if a person doesn’t get past steps one, two or three, we know they won’t pass steps four and five.

“Mental health is an issue. There was a time where we didn’t do that much testing and there was a time when I think it was less of an issue.” THE REST OF THE ARTICLE IS here