Perinchief said officers from the Caribbean country would not fit in with the Bermuda force.

Jamaican Association president Winston Laylor said: "It is not my style, nor is it the style of many other Jamaicans residing in Bermuda, to adopt a bellicose and belligerent stance such as that which is espoused by Mr.

Perinchief as being typical of the Jamaican personality.'' And he added: "It would not be my expectation that the Bermuda recruiting team, having set their objectives and refined the job descriptions, would be prepared to hire anyone less than the best.

"In similar vein, it would be my expectation that the Jamaican Constabulary Force would present of interview only those officers who met the objectives and who, in their opinion, reflected the highest ideals of the force.'' Government has announced it is to recruit around 45 officers on fixed three-year terms from overseas -- with Canada and Jamaica likely to provide most of the experienced officers needed.

Mr. Laylor spoke out after former Assistant Commissioner Mr. Perinchief, now a Government MP, said he would not support recruitment from the armed Jamaica force.

Mr. Perinchief, who stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity, said the Jamaican style of policing was more "hard line'' than Bermuda's.

And he added the Force was currently under investigation for brutality in a street sweep of homeless people in the tourist hot spot of Montego Bay.

The Jamaican police -- whose officers shot dead more than 150 people in the capital Kingston alone last year -- have also come under fire for resorting to force too quickly.

Mr. Perinchief said that Bermuda traditionally did not recruit from routinely-armed services and that, historically, Bermudians and Jamaicans did not blend well.

He added that there was also a history of antagonism between Jamaicans and people from areas used by Bermuda for recruitment in the past -- like Barbados, Grenada and St. Kitts.

But Mr. Laylor said: "While Mr. Perinchief insists that his comments are entirely his own, he must be aware that, as an elected MP, any public statment he makes could possibly be construed as coming, if only in part, from the party and Government he represents.'' He added: "All this is coming from a man who at one time was considered the front runner for the post of Police Commissioner.

"These statements fall into the category of `things that make you go hmm'.

"The challenges and obstacles that many Jamaicans face as they attempt to reside peacefully on this Island many not be so isolated after all.'' He added the Bermuda Regiment -- currently on annual camp in Jamaica -- had frequently been hosted by the Jamaica Defence Force for training.

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