Constitutional powers given to the Governor are vital to ensure Police remain independent of Government, according to a former high ranking officer.

The officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, also said he had never witnessed interference from the Governor.

And he said removing the Police powers given to the Governor would leave Bermuda without the necessary checks and balances.

The former officer said: “The last thing you want is a Minister controlling operations and making decisions because the next step is that Ministers would be controlling investigations.

“The Constitution and Police Act have been written the way they are for good reason.”

His comments came after Senator David Burch, Minister of Public Safety, asked Governor Sir John Vereker to relinquish his constitutional powers over the Police and delegate them to Government.

Sen. Burch told the Senate that under Section 62 of the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968 the Governor “is solely responsible for the Bermuda Police Service”.

He said that Section sets out “what it refers to as the Governor’s ‘special responsibilities’” which include the Police and added “this section of the Constitution is alive and well and is regularly enforced”.

Sen. Burch claimed he was unable to do things such as get more officers patrolling the streets and ensure crimes were investigated promptly and said former Ministers who promised to get tough on crime engaged in “smoke and mirrors” because they had “no responsibility for it, period”.

“I have a solution to this untenable situation — Section 62 of the Constitution also allows for the Governor to delegate, on certain conditions, his responsibility for any of those things I listed earlier, to the Premier or any other Minister,” he said.

“I can advise the Senate today that I have written to the Governor inviting him to delegate his authority and responsibility for the Police to the Minister with responsibility for Public Safety.

“I am not content to perpetuate this bizarre relationship which in effect renders the Minister powerless. Bermuda has real problems and those problems are not insurmountable. However, they require a person with a stake in the process to manage that process.

“In my view that person cannot be an appointed Governor from England here for a defined period of time with limited local knowledge.

“Our constitution contemplates this delegation of responsibilities wand it is now time for the Governor to do the right thing in the interests of what is best for Bermuda.”

But the senior Police officer, who wished to remain anonymous, said the powers given to a Governor were essential to ensure the Police remained independent of politics.

He said: “There needs to be checks and balances between a Minster and the Service.

“Without that how would the country be assured that there would be an independent Police service conducting investigations without fear or favour. When elected officials start getting involved the public could wonder if the Minister has the courage to investigate a member of his party, or someone in his constituency.”

He added that Sen. Burch was incorrect in saying powers given in the Constitution to Governors prevented Ministers from ensuring the Island was properly policed.

“For any Minister to say they have no control over the Police is ridiculous,” the former officer said. “They control the purse strings, they control 100 percent of the Police budget. If you control the money you have a lot of control over what happens in the Service, how many people can be recruited, what training officers can receive and what equipment they can purchase.

He described the “tripartite relationship” between the Police Commissioner, Minister and Governor as “complex” and “sophisticated” but said that people in both roles were appraised of major issues and said other Caribbean countries had similar systems involving a Governor.

He added that as far as he was aware Commissioners often met with Ministers of the day far more than they met with Governors and it was common for Commissioners to meet with the Cabinet a few times a year to outline the issues facing the service and progress made as well as getting Cabinet’s approval on strategic plans.

Meanwhile Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley alleged that Sen. Burch’s statement was another attempt by the Government to shift attention away from allegations of corruption within the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

Last week The Royal Gazette’s sister paper The Mid-Ocean News ran a story from a leaked Police dossier centring on allegations of corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

The documents reportedly revealed that Premier Ewart Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith and former Ministers Nelson Bascome, Renée Webb and Arthur Hodgson were all investigated by fraud squad officers looking into the BHC allegations.

Following that story, Premier Dr. Ewart Brown threatened to suspend all dealings with Sir John if he failed to fully investigate who leaked confidential documents to the Mid Ocean News and ZBM television station, which was raided by Police on Monday.

Speaking about Sen. Burch’s comments yesterday the Opposition leader claimed: “It is not only divisive, but it amounts to a dangerous escalation in political brinkmanship that threatens the constitutional underpinnings of government in Bermuda.

“All members of our community should be deeply concerned.

“Why is the Brown regime putting our international reputation for stability and good governance at risk? Why now, this week after nine years in power is the PLP Government aggressively trying to make the constitutional responsibility for the Police an issue?

“The answer has everything to do with the BHC scandal and nothing to do with day-to-day control of Police operations.

Mr. Dunkley added that the Government had “all the tools” to do the job because they had control of the Police’s recruitment, training, administration and budget.

He said: “For Col. Burch to say that he is unable as Public Safety minister to get more Police on the streets and that he is unable to ensure prompt investigation of crimes because of constitutional arrangements indicates a failure of leadership or a profound misunderstanding of his role and responsibility.”