officer from within the force to head the Police Service.

In an exclusive interview with The Royal Gazette Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay, who is set to retire in two years, revealed that a host of officers currently serving on the Island are now being interviewed for promotion to senior ranks.

And, although he emphasised that some of those being considered for promotion are long-serving expatriates, he added that the promotions would give him a large pool of officers from which an eventual successor could be found.

The pending retirement of Deputy Commissioner Harold Moniz later this year and the need to appoint two new Superintendents has resulted in a freeing up of the Police hierarchy with a possible seven new senior positions up for grabs.

Currently the Bermuda Police Service has just one Superintendent -- the fourth most senior rank in the force behind the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner. The force is also currently suffering a shortfall of Chief Inspectors.

Interviews have already been held to select two more Superintendents and the appointments are expected to be made official imminently.

And the selection procedure for four more Chief Inspectors will also begin shortly.

Commissioner Lemay said: "When I leave in the year 2001 I am hopeful that someone will be ready from within the Bermudian Police service.

Lemay sets sights on his successor "I finish my term in April of 2001 and the responsibility was given to me that, before I leave I would identify a pool of officers and that I would prepare in the time that was remaining, my successor, and I'm working to achieve that.

"We can't eliminate people who are not Bermudian. On the Police Service we have Bermudians, we have expats and then we have people from the Islands. Some of them do not have status but they've been serving for the last 20 years in the Bermuda Police Service.

"I think when you ask if we're going to have a Bermudian Commissioner you have to be a bit more broad and instead say is it possible to have a Bermudian Police officer serving as Commissioner? I think you have to be careful that we do not eliminate current serving Police officers who originated from the UK or who originated from the Islands who may have the ability and the potential.

"I can't tell you if we're going to appoint a Bermudian but I can tell you that I'm working towards the objective to appoint someone from the Bermuda Police Service. If you're asking is it going to be a Bermudian, I don't know.

"What if you were from Barbados and you'd been in the Police Service for 20 years and someone says publicly we're going to appoint a Bermudian. You're basically saying to this guy don't even think about ever trying to make it to the top rank because it's not going to happen.

"I would identify the best candidates and take it from there. But my job is to ensure that we look at the potential within the organisation and that people have been given the opportunity to show their potential.''