Hundreds of police officers and staff became further equipped and empowered to speak up about poor conduct thanks to training designed to enhance workplace culture.

Ranks from constable to superintendent attended workshops delivered by Graham Goulden, a retired chief inspector from Britain who visited the island this month.

The Bermuda Police Service said yesterday that in “overwhelmingly positive” feedback, officers reported greater confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour.

Mr Goulden, whose role latterly was with the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, delivered his As One training in being an active bystander to 327 BPS officers and staff over nine days.

The sessions were designed to enable participants to make effective interventions and reduce risks.

Mr Goulden said: “We know that people see the early signs of harmful behaviour — mental health crises or mistakes being made.

“Imagine if we could create a culture where we train people in workplaces to deal with things very quickly.”

He noted last week that police officers were relied upon to speak up and report when there is a code of ethics breach.

“My work focuses on the bit before,” Mr Goulden added. “So if you act early … there is nothing to report.

“The As One programme is a peer-intervention programme that is about colleagues looking out for colleagues, stopping things from reaching that crisis point but also knowing that if an officer is causing harm, deliberately or whatever, you need to report that.”

He pointed out that the training helped officers to spot early warning signs such as small errors, withdrawing from colleagues or irritability.

Mr Goulden said that “ … we simply expect people to intervene but we don’t focus on the why”.

“Why don’t they intervene?” he added. “Human beings sometimes struggle, especially with their friends and colleagues, to act out.

“They might wait on somebody else stepping in — is it my business? What if it’s somebody more senior in rank?

“There’s often the fear that you won’t be supported in policing, the fear of being isolated.

“Around the world we talk about grasses, snitches, whistleblowers, there’s that fear, so my work is about trying to take that out the equation because if you act early and help a friend, you’re not being a grass or a snitch, you’re being a good friend.”

Mr Goulden said he met top BPS executives last year about delivering the training.

“They saw the programme as an opportunity to really build that supportive culture where, if we get the culture right, then the task of policing becomes a lot easier,” he added.

“We all benefit — cops benefit, their families benefit but importantly the communities of Bermuda benefit.

“This is about officers stopping things before they become that big issue where we start to lose trust in policing.”

The training came just over a year after the publication of findings from an external cultural review of the BPS, which was carried out by officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2024.

In its executive summary, the report said that a combination of factors on the island and internationally had “compounded into low morale across the organisation and a less than positive culture”.

The publication added that positive perceptions from survey respondents — about 46 per cent of the workforce — highlighted that there was a good sense of community and people were proud of the public service they provide as well as their diverse workforce.

It said: “The negative words that were used most frequently were toxic, racist and fear. Toxic was used in relation to PSD [professional standards department] matters and from the sense that there was unfairness in parts of the organisation.

“Fear was used in context to repercussions of speaking out and not being listened to.”

Mr Goulden said last week that he had been aware of the cultural review and that as the BPS made efforts to improve its workplace environment, the As One programme helped to “bring this process to life”.

He added: “What I’ve been trying to get across is that culture is not just top down, it needs to be ground up as well.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Antoine Daniels said yesterday that he attended several of the sessions, which were delivered between March 2 and 12, to reinforce the importance of the training from a policing context.

He said the point he made was: “We are not seeking to create an organisation of heroes, rather, we aim to foster a culture in which silence feels unnatural and ignoring harm is no longer acceptable.

“When individuals are equipped to act, even in small ways, inaction becomes uncomfortable and increasingly rare.”

Mr Daniels said that the programme added significant value to the BPS.

“The training was introduced to strengthen organisational culture by enabling earlier, peer-level intervention before behaviours escalate to misconduct thresholds,” he explained.

“It also supports the organisation in identifying and addressing behaviours linked to inappropriate behaviours that may otherwise go unchallenged.

“Participants were equipped with practical tools and the confidence to speak up, intervene appropriately and support colleagues.

“Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many officers reporting increased self-reflection, strong engagement and improved confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour.

“The training is expected to help shape behaviour by fostering a culture of accountability, where individuals feel empowered to have constructive and at times courageous conversations with colleagues.”

Mr Daniels added: “The programme also aligns with the recommendations of the 2024 culture review, which highlighted the need to address inappropriate behaviour and strengthen workplace culture.

“In this regard, the training represents an important step in promoting a respectful, inclusive and professional environment across the organisation.”

He said that the police service is committed to building on the momentum generated by the sessions, including through continued investment in training and the use of reinforcement materials to cement the learning.

Mr Daniels added that consideration will be given to running more As One sessions to cater for those who were unable to attend owing to operational demands.

“Alongside this, broader organisational measures such as ongoing policy development, staff engagement and oversight by the professional standards department will continue to support cultural improvement,” he said.

He said Mr Goulden’s approach “resonated strongly with participants”, even those who were sceptical at first.

Mr Daniels added: “Overall, this initiative reflects the BPS’s ongoing commitment to continuous learning, improvement and to fostering a culture aligned with its values of trust, learning and courtesy, in support of its mission of making Bermuda safer.”