OFFICERS of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service have been urged to consider the shortage of policemen in their own country before pursuing more lucrative careers in Bermuda.

The plea was made this week in a local newspaper by Cedric Neptune of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association.

This came in response to an aggressive recruiting drive launched by the Bermuda Police Service, in an effort to fill its depleted ranks.

The Bermuda Police Service is reported to have placed ads in Trinidad and Tobago's daily newspapers, as well as those in Jamaica, offering salaries of $56,000 annually, plus additional benefits.

Mr. Neptune told Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday that while the five-year contracts offered by the Bermuda Police Service are more financially enticing than those offered locally, officers should take into account the deficit of manpower within their own service.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service told Newsday that officers had not been discouraged from applying for positions in the Bermuda Police Service, and were, in fact, free to do so through the Commissioner of Police.