Opposition Deputy Leader Michael Dunkley said he understood up to 75 per cent of police officers had less than three years' experience in uniform.

And his claim was backed up by criminal lawyer Mark Pettingill, who suggested that the proportion of inexperienced officers might be as high as 80 per cent.

Mr. Dunkley, who was given the information by "a very reliable source", said: "It's a concerning statistic and is obviously happening because of the high turnover of officers."

Mr. Dunkley said the high staff turnaround was due to a manpower shortage which in turn created low morale. He also pointed to poor facilities and inconvenient hours as reasons for officers quitting, while a buoyant economy meant the private sector was able to lure staff with more attractive packages.

Describing the statistic as "alarming", Mr. Dunkley said: "The mess is much deeper than the public are aware.

"We are all aware of the poor facilities they deal with daily as they work. We are also well aware of the manpower issues faced and thus we see no police on the beat whether it be in town or cruising the streets from east to west.

"This transpires into very low rates of apprehending offenders or solving crimes.This is a worrying position to be in especially when it appears that Government is not worried about the current state of affairs within the police service.

"This Government is denying that there has been a manpower problem and that's not good. Everyone knows about the poor facilities but Government is just paying lip-service. For how long have they been talking about a new Hamilton Police Station?

Based on these unkept promises year in and year out, could anyone blame a police officer for becoming disillusioned?

"The morale issue is one that has been allowed to build over the years and it will not be rectified overnight but it can be improved over time.

"Manpower and facilities need to be addressed ASAP. The police are not happy with their shift situation nor are the numbers right. This needs to be looked at and then dealt with based on the assessment.

"The profession isn't as respected as it used to be and I think that's also turning people away. It used to be an honour to serve in the police but now people have a negative view . We have got to get the community spirit back to helping the police."

Yesterday Mr. Pettingill backed up Mr. Dunkley's claim.

"Actually I heard it was 80 per cent, and that came from a very well-informed source," he said.

"I think that's a horrifying and alarming statistic and of course the whole of Bermuda should be concerned about it.

"I don't think it's about better training, it's about better recruitment. For some reason we seem to be unable to keep Bermudians in the force for any length of time. Whether that's because of the pay or the hours or whatever I don't know.

"I also understand that we're not keeping our experienced overseas recruits here. They come here with expectations and then find that those expectations aren't met.

"I am always seeing new faces and junior officers doing a senior officer's job. I would say that your average cop on the beat doesn't have a great deal of experience and that's worrying.

"It's not a case of just training people and rolling them out. You need experience and also maturity ? life experience ? particularly if you're on the beat. You have to put inexperienced people with experienced people. You can take the smartest rookie but if you place them in a situation that requires experience, there lack of experience shows ? and it's dangerous.

A police spokesman was unable to confirm the statistic, stating that he was unsure if such date was collated.

But in December the force acknowledged that young officers were handing in their badges in droves after just a few years in the job.

"It's not true to say that we have a manpower crisis, but what is fair to say is that we are facing a human resources challenge and we are having to recruit aggressively," a police spokesman told this newspaper at the time.

"We still do have officers who have joined up and had very long and very fruitful careers, but people are no longer looking to join the service for, say 25 years ? nobody wants to be anywhere for 25 years nowadays. The whole mindset is different now and the level of opportunity outside the service is also very different.

"It's a very fertile job market out there and because of the way the job market is right now, there are other opportunities in the private sector and people are exercising that right to choose."