More than 100 people have been snapped up from the Caribbean to boost Bermuda Police Service's dwindling resources.

A Police statement revealed that 31 trained officers had been recruited, while a further 70 civilians will be brought to the Island to train — a total of 101.

It comes a week after Home Affairs Minister David Burch revealed "well over 100" officers had been recruited from the Caribbean.

The force is currently operating with 431 officers, down from its 477 capacity, with Sen. Burch saying he wanted the team to oversubscribe to improve numbers.

The Police statement said yesterday: "The Commissioner of Police and a recruiting team have returned from a successful recruiting initiative in the Caribbean.

"The purpose of the trip was to recruit individuals to serve on the Bermuda Police Service and, as a result, a pool of individuals was developed.

"This simply means that, based on policing demands, the Bermuda Police Service has identified a group of individuals that potentially can be called upon to fulfill our policing needs.

"The Commissioner still remains fully committed to training Bermudians and spouses of Bermudians.

"However, recruiting overseas is considered another policing option, as our local recruitment campaigns have not yielded the numbers necessary."

Meanwhile, Police are continuing to develop their community school initiative aimed at creating an open dialogue where members of the public can learn about policing issues which affect them.

Anybody who wants to take part in the scheme should e-mail community classes@bps.bm or call 299-4249 or 299-4321.