Neither the Police Commissioner nor the consultant to the Director of Public Prosecutions actually used the term ?unethical? to describe the BHC scandal, both clarified this week.

The word first surfaced at a Press conference on August 10 held to close the Police investigation into the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC). At that conference Police revealed that they were unable to find any evidence of criminal activity at the BHC, though they did find that ?established practices had been abandoned ... an environment was created which could have enabled criminal offences to occur,? among other examples of misconduct and mismanagement.

During the question-and-answer period a reporter asked if it was fair to use the term ?unethical? to describe what happened at the BHC. Consultant to the DPP Kulandra Ratneser agreed it was a fair term, but said it was not the place of the DPP to take further action. In his prepared statement, he said: ?I do want to emphasise that it is not for the DPP to advise as to what legal remedies are available to deal with matters when the evidence discloses activity that falls short of criminal conduct.

?For that reason, I have not been asked for and have not given any such advice.?

Neither Police Commissioner Jonathon Smith nor Mr. Ratneser were quoted as calling what happened ?unethical? in subsequent media reports.

Premier Alex Scott called the use of the term ?unprofessional? at a Press conference last Thursday. ?Wherever it originated, it was unprofessional,? he said at the time. ?If it originated with the Commissioner, unprofessional. The DPP, unprofessional. The Auditor General, unprofessional ... They know it carries more innuendo.?

However Mr. Ratneser contacted last week to point out that he never actually used the term himself, and that he repeatedly made the point that without evidence of criminal activity, the DPP had no further role to play.

The Police Commissioner, who is currently overseas, e-mailed the following statement to yesterday:

?In all my years of serving this community through the Bermuda Police Service I have always had a strong sense of professional ethics and integrity. Certainly I recognise that there was immense public interest in the BHC investigation and that, to a significant degree, prompted the need for a statement from the Bermuda Police Service on the findings. The public interest shown after the announcement that our investigations were concluded was not unsurprising.

?Clearly it is up to me to remain impartial, fair and professional. Anything less than that would be a disservice to the office I hold. It would be inappropriate for me as Commissioner of Police to get drawn into further public discussion on this: I simply have no role to partake. I stand by the prepared Press statement made last week.

?As to the use of the word ?unethical? I will not get drawn into a debate about what conduct constitutes unethical conduct or not. The prepared statement provided to the media on Tuesday, August 10, summarised the investigative findings. The word ?unethical? was not in my prepared statement and was not attributed to me.

?It is really not for me as Commissioner of Police to make further comment. The decisions on any further disclosure of the investigative findings, if there is to be further disclosure, as I stated last week, rest elsewhere.?