An English police officer is to be the island’s new Commissioner of Police.

John Rankin, the Governor, has appointed Chief Superintendent Stephen Corbishley to succeed Michael DeSilva.

Mr Corbishley, who works for Kent Police in South East England, will be appointed for a five-year term.

Mr Rankin said: “I am confident that Chief Superintendent Corbishley will serve Bermuda well in his role as Commissioner of Police over the next five years, bringing to the job a wide breadth of skills and experience.

“Looking forward, I am equally confident that there is leadership potential within the ranks of the Bermuda Police Service and I have tasked the new commissioner to identify and cultivate that talent with a view to strengthening the service at all levels and creating a clear succession plan for posts at the senior command level.”

A government spokesman said there were six candidates for the job, three of whom were Bermudian.

A Government House spokesman added: “[Corbishley] has a strong and deep level of skills and experience, having held command positions in both operational and crime divisions in UK policing.

“He has considerable strategic experience, including a secondment to the National Crime Agency, which will serve the Bermuda Police Service well as it adapts to emerging global security threats.”

Mr Corbishley was said to be respected for his strong partnership approach to policing and his commitment to developing capability.

The spokesman added one of Mr Corbishley’s priorities is to establish a programme for developing talented Bermuda police officers with leadership potential to prepare them for senior command positions within the next five years.

Mr Corbishley, who is about 50 years old, has been part of the Kent force for 25 years.

He was divisional commander of the force’s west division for several years before he was promoted to acting assistant chief constable — the equivalent of assistant commissioner — six weeks ago.

Earlier, he was in charge of the partnership directorate at the force headquarters in Maidstone, with responsibility of strategic crime reduction, partnership and community relations.

It was revealed this month that recorded crime in the Kent force area had risen over the past three years and the number of charges made had fallen.

Recorded crimes rose by 19 per cent to 131,500 crimes in 2016-17, while the number of charges brought dropped by 15 per cent to 13,600 over the same time compared to 2014-15.

The BBC said that a “squeeze on resources” was to blame.

But Mr Corbishley said: “When talking about charges, it is important to remember that a charge is one of 21 possible outcomes for recorded crime.

“The prospect of a charge is based on the evidence available to officers and often the support of the victim going forward.

“In some investigations, particularly in domestic abuse cases of sexual offences, victims may want police intervention but not necessarily prosecution.

“Similarly, when dealing with children and young people, a charge may not be the best course of action and instead we will work with partners to educate young offenders and help redirect their lives for the better.”

Kent police’s increase in crime was below the English average of 21 per cent, while charges fell by 11 per cent across the country, compared to the 15 per cent recorded in Kent.

The force area logged an increase over three years in possession of weapons, robbery, violence and sex offences.

But there was a drop in drugs offences, criminal damage and theft.

The number of charges related to weapons possession, robbery violence and sex offences also increased over the three-year period.

Mr Corbishley said there had been a “genuine increase in reported crime across the country”.

He added there had also been an improvement in the recording of crime and that one incident could create several crime reports based on the number of victims, where previously only one report would be generated.

Mr Corbishley also said an increase in reports of historical sex offences had had “significant impacts on the statistics”.

Wayne Caines, the national security minister and David Burt, the Premier, were asked for comment on the appointment, but have not yet responded.

Michael Dunkley, the shadow national security minister, said: “The One Bermuda Alliance strongly believes that Bermuda should be for Bermudians first and foremost.

“The provision of hope, opportunity and empowerment at all levels of service is paramount.

“As a result it was our desire and expectation that another Bermudian would assume the rank of commissioner of police upon the retirement of Commissioner Michael Desilva.”

Mr Dunkley added: “While perhaps unfortunate that this did not happen, the One Bermuda Alliance nonetheless respects the process which appears to have led the Governor, in his discretion, to form the view that at this point in time the talented officers who currently serve as assistant commissioners and superintendents do not yet have a sufficient level of demonstrated experience and are therefore not yet ready to take on the role of commissioner right now.”