to Bermudian leadership had been "delayed''.

But Governor Lord Waddington and Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness said Bermudian candidates for the posts of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner will be named in three months time.

The announcement came yesterday in a joint statement to The Royal Gazette -- days after a group of senior Police officers met with Lord Waddington to protest plans to replace Deputy Commissioner Michael Mylod with a Policeman from overseas.

Mr. Mylod leaves Bermuda in September -- six months before the end of his contract -- which means his replacement will be appointed for at least 18 months so an overseas officer will hold the post for at least three years.

The statement said: "The timetable envisaged for returning the Service to Bermudian leadership has been delayed. But that aim remains unchanged.

"In three months, Bermudian candidates with the potential for advancement to top posts will be named, and soon thereafter undertake the appropriate training and attachments to prepare them for their new responsibilities.'' The statement added: "It is understandable that there should be disappointment at the news that the successor to the present Deputy Commissioner of Police is being sought abroad.

"The Governor and the Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety share that disappointment.'' But they said future Bermudian senior officers would not be put in senior command positions without proper preparation.

"They must be equipped to succeed,'' the statement said. "The Bermuda Police Service must be given every possible chance of success and that process must not fail.'' Last night, Mr. Edness said Commissioner Colin Coxall and Mr. Mylod faced two primary objectives when they arrived on the Island.

Future top officers to be identified shortly the rapidly rising crime rate under control and assess individual officers' strengths and weaknesses while doing so.

The second was to put a plan in place to train and develop Bermudians for the top Police positions with the intention of announcing the candidates before Mr. Mylod left.

But Mr. Edness said this had proved impossible because Mr. Mylod had tendered his resignation.

However he stressed that the Governor and Government were sympathetic toward the personal reasons Mr. Mylod cited for leaving early.

The second objective had not changed and Mr. Edness said he hoped the public would be a little more patient.

It normally took ten years of training and experience to prepare a Senior Police officer for the top posts but with a tailor-made programme designed for the Bermudian Service by Mr. Coxall and Mr. Mylod it was planned to prepare candidates quicker, he continued.

But it would still take time, he stressed, for the officers to get the experience they needed to succeed in their new posts.

And Mr. Edness appealed to critics of the delay to refrain from using "extreme language'' toward the Governor, Government, Mr. Coxall and Mr. Mylod when describing their dissatisfaction with the way the matter had been handled.

Such language had incited people to threaten the Commissioner's life earlier this year and referring to individuals as "evil'' over this incident could provoke a repeat of this situation, he warned.

None of the people involved minded being criticised, he added, but use of words such as "evil'' only implied ill-intent.