Premier Ewart Brown will be guarded by a plain-clothed Police officer when he is out in public due to recent security scares.

Dr. Brown agreed yesterday to the offer from the Police after news that a man who accosted him while allegedly in possession of a blade this week has a past conviction for causing bodily harm. The Premier said he believed the person in question had mental health issues, and Government is trying to address wider concerns over provision for the mentally ill by boosting outpatient services at the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute.

He explained the Monday incident — when a man carrying a concealed box cutter approached him before being intercepted by a member of the public — made him "a little more concerned" about the possibility of being targeted. The result of this, coupled with an incident at Cabinet in January when Police had to deal with a drunk demanding to see him, led to what he described as a change to security arrangements at "local events."

Now, he said, he would have a plain-clothed officer with him "when I'm out in public" in contrast to previous arrangements whereby he only had this "at large public events".

The Premier was accompanied by his new security detail on a visit to Bermuda College yesterday. He commented during that visit that although people in Bermuda used to leave their doors open "society has changed and we have a fair amount of mental imbalance, and drugs have aggravated that, and so we have a number of people that might not know what they are doing, but they can do harm to people."

Dr. Brown's spokesman Scott Simmons would not comment on whether the Police protection officer is armed, and neither would a Police spokesman. A question sent to Home Affairs Minister David Burch about the cost of the beefed-up protection was not replied to by press time.

The previous Premier, Alex Scott, has previously told this newspaper that he did not have a bodyguard during his time in office.

The security topic came up at the end of a wide-ranging question and answer session Dr. Brown had with students after touring the Bermuda College campus.

He agreed with one student's suggestion that expat workers should undergo "cultural orientation" when they arrive on the Island. And pointing to tourism figures released yesterday, he encouraged the young Bermudians present to consider careers in the hospitality industry "and don't picture yourself with a tray - accountants and lawyers and engineers work in hotels."

On the topic of education he said "how can things be cool when half of our students aren't graduating?"

But he reassured the students: "Diagnosis made, and treatment on the way."

The results of a wide ranging review of education will be announced in a TV broadcast on May 3, he said, and "you are going to hear about some changes that are coming for your school system that most of you are not old enough to have seen. We are going to see major changes made in our education system."

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