Incapacitant CapTor Spray has been used for the first time by Police officers in Bermuda during a weekend arrest of a man in Hamilton, despite serving officers raising concerns Bermuda Police Service could be sued by offenders and its own officers because of a gap in training methods.

The first public use of the spray came only a day after being authorised by Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton along with an announcement that around half the Island?s Police now carry the small spray canisters.

The spray disables a suspect by exposing them to a potent version of pepper spray that creates excruciating pain and involuntary eye-closing.

A letter addressed to the Police Commissioner George Jackson on March 2 outlining the concerns of some officers, including an inspector and a sergeant, has been acquired by

The officers spell out possible legal questions that might open Police to being sued by victims of the spray if who feel they have not been given adequate aftercare.

Police officers sprayed accidentally might also seek compensation on the grounds they were un-prepared to deal with the situation because of a gap in their training that does not exist amongst UK constabularies using Captor Spray and the similar CS gas.

But last night Bermuda Police Service ? which in the past two months has called off without explanation two scheduled press conferences relating to the introduction of the CapTor Spray ? said only that it would carry out an investigation into how the letter became public.

The main concerns presented in the letter concern the lack of physical practice given to the officers using the spray such as feeling the effects for themselves.

Eleven officers completed an instructor training course last November under the guidance of two UK instructors. In this training course they were exposed to the spray, it is claimed in the letter.

This was said to have been done for several reasons, mostly notably so officers could appreciate the effects of the spray on an offender, allow a real situation to apply aftercare and, should the spray affect a fellow officer during a violent situation, allow them to know what to expect and not to panic.

But Bermuda Police Service?s decision not to allow its instructors to expose fellow officers to the spray during training has caused concern amongst its ranks.

The letter points out the UK?s Sussex Police Constabulary has written in its policy document covering the use of incapacitant sprays: ?It is essential that officers are aware of the physical and psychological effects of the spray. Within the training programme the opportunity will be provided for officers to be exposed to CapTor.

?Exposure of this nature will provide officers with an appreciation of the effects on an offender and will assist in alerting them to how they will feel if they are inadvertently exposed to the spray during a confrontation.

?If this happens they will need to continue to perform effectively or take appropriate action in spite of being affected. All instructor students will undergo live exposure as a matter of course during their training.?

The officers want the Bermuda Police Service adopt the same stance, allowing any student who volunteers to be exposed to be allowed to do so.

They point out that three Bermuda-based CapTor spray instructors have experience in different UK constabularies where it is mandatory for all students to be exposed to the similar CS gas unless they have a medical reason not to be.

And they added the possibility that Bermuda Police Service might be open to having legal action taken against it because none of the Island?s officers will have been trained ?as competently or effectively as UK counterparts?.

The letter states: ?A subject who does not receive the adequate aftercare they believe they are entitled to will possibly make a complaint or even worse, sue the BPS for lack of aftercare.

Last night a Police spokesman said in reference to the letter acquired by the : ?The letter is an internal police document. Such documents are not to be disseminated outside the Police Service and an investigation into the dissemination of the document is underway.?

And in relation to the level of training given to CapTor Spray carrying officers, said: ?The BPS policy on CapTor, the incapacitant spray, outlines the use of the spray by Police officers.

?Regarding training, the policy states ?administrating CapTor Spray to officers or exposing officers to the effect of Captor Spray during training or for training purposes is expressly forbidden.?

In a statement on Friday the BPS announced 247 officers had been trained to use the spray, ? including aftercare ? andall Police stations are equipped to handle people who have been sprayed.

Around 4.25 p.m. on Saturday a 35-year-old Southampton man committing an unspecified offence on the junction of Court Street and Elliot Street was the first person to be arrested by officers who used the Captor Spray to incapacitate him. No-one was injured during the incident.