Public Safety Minister David Burch said yesterday it was "a most unnatural arrangement" for the Governor to retain control of the day-to-day running of the Police.

And he suggested that if he was in charge of Bermuda Police Service he would quickly reduce the number of officers guarding Government House.

Senator Burch's remarks were in response to a question at a press conference as to whether he had asked Sir Richard Gozney to hand over responsibility for operational policing — as he did with his predecessor Sir John Vereker.

Sir Richard later told The Royal Gazette: "I do not take issue with Minister Burch; he has his own way of putting things.

"In my book neither Government House nor Government have responsibility for operational policing. I believe that Police operations are the responsibility of the Commissioner of Police."

Sen. Burch told the media that if was going to make such a request to Sir Richard he would not do it publicly.

The Minister added: "To me, this is a most unnatural arrangement and for somebody like me it's even worse because I spent 20 years in the military and the one thing we do right is give orders and have them carried out. It's not the way I'm comfortable in operating."

Sen. Burch called on Sir John to relinquish his police powers in June 2007 "in the interests of what is best for Bermuda" — a request declined by the then Governor on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

Sen. Burch said yesterday that when he was asked why crime was increasing and referred to the Governor's ultimate responsibility for policing, he was not "making excuses".

He said if he was given control of Bermuda Police Service "first you'd see me skipping around town". He added: "The first order of business would obviously be to meet with the leadership of the Police Service."

He said he had a fairly good idea of what the public wanted and would take those officers doing lower priority jobs and put them on the street.

The Minister said the number of Police guarding Government House could be reduced, adding that he'd prefer to see none there at all.

Responding to the comments, Sir Richard said last night: "The Constitution says that the Governor shall be responsible for the conduct of any business of the Government with respect to the Police.

"I interpret this provision of the Constitution to mean that Government House has oversight of the Police, not direction of operations.

"At the same time I have recognised from my arrival that the elected Government have a political responsibility to answer public expectations and that they pay for the Bermuda Police Service.

"This means that Governor and Government need, I suggest, to work together to agree policy guidelines and to help the Police Commissioner and his leadership team to set goals for the Police Service, which is what I think we've been seeking to do."

The Governor cited recent Police progress, including their presentation of evidence at the Aquil Richardson trial, which led to the murderers' conviction; the conviction of a drug dealer and gun owner sentenced to 14 years in jail; and the seizure of $3.8 million worth of drugs and cash in 2008.

Sir Richard said: "We need to recognise these achievements, as well as to show where we want to see the Police achieve more."