THE Bermuda Police Service (BPS) has received more than 250 applications from Jamaican police constables following an advertisement in a local newspaper less than three days ago.

This outpouring of officers wishing to leave the island is a worrying fact for the Jamaican police high command.

Mark Shields, Deputy Commissioner in charge of crime, says that there may be a compromise in the local police infrastructure, given the vast difference in the Jamaican and Bermudan police pay cheques.

"More pressure will be put on the Jamaican government to improve wage conditions for its local officers . . . Policing is an international business, and as policing styles become generic, other countries will be seeking police officers of the best calibre, and with our level of training done here (Jamaica), a skill drain is a serious possibility that should not be ignored," said Deputy Commissioner Shields.

The BPS published the advertisement in The Sunday Gleaner, saying it was looking to recruit currently-serving police constables to join their establishment for a contract period of five years. The recruitment drive from neighbouring Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, is said to have been brought about after an internal study found a need for at least 40 more officers for active duty within their ranks.

The Jamaica Star newspaper spoke to one local corporal from a Corporate Area police station, who said he had already downloaded an application off the BPS's web site. He will, however, be applying as a constable, as he is fed up of living "hand-to-mouth".

"The wages are much better, and if I get more pay to work in a country where it's far safer to be a police officer, then I can't see why I should stay," said the officer.

But the BPS's media relations manager Dwayne Caines gave an assurance that its recruitment drive was mindful of not affecting any police infrastructures in the countries from which it recruits.

"We have so far received a robust response from Caribbean countries like Jamaica, but we ensure not to affect the country's police infrastructure, as we only recruit the rank of constable, and we diversify recruiting by not taking too many officers from one country," Mr. Caines explained.

Sources in Bermuda say that one of the highest number of applicants are from Jamaica. They say they expect more than 300 applicants.

Among the other Caribbean countries from which recruitment is taking place are St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The BPS, however, says recruiting may come from as far as England and Wales.

The current pay being offered by the BPS for recruited officers is $56,000 annually. Compared to a Jamaican constable's starting wage of $6,135 annually, the Bermudian wages would seem phenomenal.

According to Mr. Caines, the difference between the wages increases. "The $56,000 is just the starting wages, and after expected overtime hours, the average constable usually ends up taking $70,000 to $80,000 per year."

He said, however, that although these figures seemed high, "we must consider that Bermuda's cost of living is also high".

The Jamaica Constabulary Force is genuinely concerned about this and other recruitment initiatives because of the huge contrast in local and overseas police wages.

This new Bermuda drive to recruit officers from the Caribbean country comes just days after the Jamaican police force protested low wages and lack of communication with government over wage talks.

The Jamaican Police Federation says the Kingston government "refuses" to engage in talks.

It was reported locally this week that the BPS is now facing a deficit of 40 officers. Following the murder of Jason Lightbourne last weekend, Government has pledged to bring the BPS back to a full establishment of 469 officers by October.

Last week, this newspaper reported that advertisements for careers in the BPS had been placed in newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. Concerns were also raised there that Bermuda might be easing its own shortfalls at the expense of the already understaffed Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.