of two of its new recruits to assist in an inquiry being held back in their native Jamaica.

The Royal Gazette learned the officers in question are being investigated with regard to the non-fatal shooting of a subject in custody, which occurred in May of last year. It is understood that one officer was directly involved in the shooting while the second was a witness to it.

Apparently, the investigation was unknown to Bermuda Police when the officers were hired and brought to the Island.

Yet again, the Bermuda Police seem to be working in a state of damage control rather than simply responding to media inquiries about the matter. The shooting inquiry may yet reveal that the officers in question were completely justified in their actions.

It is troubling however, that the Bermuda Police did not discover the incident when doing background checks into the officers prior to bringing them to the Island.

Added to the fact that many of the recruits failed fitness tests when they arrived in Bermuda, one must question how thoroughly new recruits were evaluated before being hired to police a country completely foreign to them.

Whether or not the officers will return to Bermuda seems to hinge on the outcome of the investigation.

A Police statement on the matter said: "Issues connected with their future status with the Police Service can only be considered following the conclusion of a criminal case.'' That statement does not seem to express a great deal of faith in the officers in question.

The Police might have said that they expect the inquiry will be handled quickly and the officers can be expected to return to duty in Bermuda shortly thereafter, or something along those lines.

Instead, a vaguely-worded statement was issued and details of the matter withheld.

A journalist in Jamaica told an inquiring Royal Gazette reporter that the particulars of this incident were unknown to them, probably because in Jamaica police officers kill some 150 people a year.

Those numbers must be considered in association with the 850-plus murders in Jamaica each year and the hundreds of other violent crimes. On their part, the Jamaican Police have said the returning officers have been recalled due to "manpower shortages''.

In any event, there would seem to be no clear reason for the Bermuda Police to not comment directly on the situation, supporting the officers already hired while simply being straightforward about why they have been recalled to Jamaica.

It is unlikely that the Bermuda public would react with outrage against the recruits should it emerge that they were simply doing their duty. For all we know at this stage, they may even have acted heroically.

A straightforward statement on what was going, in Jamaica, combined with an expression of faith in the officers the Police have already asked the community to accept, might have gone a long way in this case.

Alternatively, being evasive or overly cautious with information only makes the Police appear to be hiding something.

And that is an appearance the Police Service should be avoiding at all times if it ever hopes to regain the full support and confidence of the Bermudian community, particularly as the Service struggles to deal with the comments and recommendations of the Serious Crimes Commission.