Spending on police discipline tops $2m since 2023
Almost $4 million in public funds has been spent on dealing with police disciplinary matters in the past six years, including more than $2 million since 2023.
The Bermuda Police Service shared the annual costs since 2019 with campaigner Eron Hill, the founder of the Bermuda Equal Justice Initiative, who requested them under public access to information.
They were $3.8 million in total, including $1.01 million in 2024-25 and $1.03 million in 2023-24.
There were 18 disciplinary proceedings initiated against serving police officers last year and 20 in 2023, according to the disclosure; there remained 12 outstanding disciplinary proceedings as of March 25.
The funds covered disciplinary tribunal fees, legal fees, settlements, expert reports, tribunal costs and all other costs incurred in relation to disciplinary proceedings.
The BEJI said in a statement that it had “grave concerns” about the spending, claiming that the costs for the most recent two years represented an “extraordinary expenditure in a jurisdiction of our size”.
The figures for 2019 to 2025 average out at about $634,000 a year, which is less than 1 per cent of the annual police budget of $69.8 million.
However, BEJI founder Eron Hill said it was the “wrong basis of analysis to compare the figures to the overall police budget”.
He said if the 38 cases initiated in the past two years involved one officer each, that amounted to roughly 10 per cent of the 358 serving officers who were on the books as of last October.
“We believe that we must find a more cost-efficient way to to handle this because $2 million for the last two years for hearings in relation to 10 per cent of the police force is absurd,” he said.
“Not all of the proceedings have concluded, which the Pati response confirms, and so the figures for those last two years … represent [only] what has been paid out to date.”
The disclosure showed that the total sum paid by the BPS for disciplinary proceedings against officers was $203,345 in 2022-23. There were 22 cases launched in 2022.
Spending was $393,016 in 2021-22, $406,991 in 2020-21 and $755,416 in 2019-20.
The information officer of the BPS wrote that the funds were taken from the general legal budget of the service.
Not all disciplinary proceedings involve formal misconduct proceedings. Statistics released by the Commissioner of Police in May revealed that there were two matters arising from complaints that led to formal misconduct proceedings in 2023 and five in 2022.
The Pati disclosure to Mr Hill revealed that eight disciplinary matters have resulted in criminal charges against officers since 2020 and that eight officers have left the service after disciplinary action or complaints since 2022.
The BPS also revealed that there were 11 active investigations into complaints filed by members of the public against police officers and 12 outstanding internal matters involving complaints by officers against other officers.
The information officer gave a breakdown of the types of alleged misconduct that prompted disciplinary proceedings.
There were six about use of force in 2023 and two in 2022; three about duties and responsibilities in 2023 and six in 2022; two about honesty and integrity in 2022; eight about authority, respect and courtesy in 2023 and seven in 2022; three about discreditable conduct in 2023 and four in 2022; and one about confidentiality in 2022.
The officer wrote that the breakdown data for last year was still being collated and should be released in September.
The BEJI claimed in its statement: “It’s troubling that after millions spent, we still lack an efficient system for police accountability.
“The public are right to be extremely concerned that millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to address internal misconduct within the police service.
“This level of expenditure is difficult to justify, especially when the system remains slow, opaque and ultimately unsatisfying for both complainants and officers alike.”
The group noted that the law required all suspended officers to remain on full pay and said this should change.
“BEJI acknowledges the importance of safeguarding procedural fairness, but a better balance must be struck between fairness and efficiency,” it said.
“The current framework is neither cost-effective nor sustainable.”
Referring to recent disciplinary matters that took several years to resolve and involved the use of King’s Counsel from Britain, the group said: “The disciplinary regime must inspire public confidence. That means it must be not only fair but also timely, transparent and affordable.
“On all three fronts, despite the best efforts of those responsible within the BPS, the present disciplinary regime is falling short.”
The BEJI proposed a “streamlined system” whereby one or two full-time adjudicators manage all police misconduct proceedings, which it said would “dramatically reduce costs”.
It also asked when the BPS’s anti-corruption unit, highlighted in the service’s 2021-2026 strategic plan, would be launched.
Mr Hill gave permission to be identified as the Pati requester for this report.
The BPS have been asked for comment.
• To view the Pati disclosure and the Bermuda Police Service’s statistics on professional standards for 2023, see Related Media
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