Bermuda Police Service
| Bermuda Police Service | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1879 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
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| Bermuda Police Service area | |
| Size | 53 square kilometres (20 sq mi) |
| Population | 66,000 |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Hamilton |
| Sworn members | 468 |
| Agency executive | Michael DeSilva, Commissioner |
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 4 |
| Website | |
| [4] | |
The Bermuda Police Service is the law enforcement agency of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is responsible for policing the entire archipelago, including incorporated municipalities, and the surrounding waters. It is part of, and entirely funded by, the Government of Bermuda. Like the Bermuda Regiment, it is under the nominal control of the territory's Governor and Commander in Chief, although, for day-to-day purposes, control is delegated to a minister of the local government. It was created in 1879, as Bermuda's first professional police service. In organisation, operation, and dress, it was created and has developed in line with the patterns established by British police services, such as the City of Glasgow Police, and the Metropolitan Police Service.
Bermuda's first police, from settlement until 1879, had been nine Parish constables (one for each Parish). As had been the case in England, these positions were filled by men appointed for twelve months, unpaid service, until pay was introduced in the 19th Century. These appointments were compulsory, akin to jury service.
Dissatisfaction with the quality of this part-time constabulary led to the formation of the Bermuda Police Force under the Police Establishment Act, 1879. The new body consisted of ten full-time constables under Superintendent J. C. B. Clarke. Three of the constables were based in Hamilton, with Clarke, three in St. George's, with Chief Constable H. Dunkley, and two in Somerset, and there were still twenty-one part-time parish constables.
The size of the police force was trebled in 1901. The first detective was appointed in 1919, and the force was reorganised again in 1920, with eighteen constables recruited from the UK raising its strength to forty-six. The size of the force grew steadily over the following decades.
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