The number of outstanding arrest warrants clogging up Bermuda?s court system is fast approaching the 10,000 mark, can reveal today.

Officers estimate the ?horrendous? backlog ? which has doubled in the last couple of years ? means Government is potentially missing out on more than $1 million in fine payments from stay-away offenders.

On an Island of some 60,000 residents, Police concerns are mounting over the spiralling number of un-executed warrants for people wanted in court.

The bulk are for traffic offences. And with many individuals racking up multiple warrants while evading the law, Police believe the problem is making Bermuda?s roads even more dangerous.

One officer said: ?The number of outstanding warrants is horrendous for a country of this size.?

Police said a number of factors are driving the staggering increase.

More people are giving false details when pulled over by cops and the number of vehicles on the road has increased, while the Police Service simply does not have the manpower to launch a concerted campaign to clear the backlog.

Police have demanded a law change so motorists must carry a valid driving licence when on the road, in an attempt to halt the spiralling number of offenders dodging court by giving false names and addresses.

P.c. Lyndon Raynor, senior officer in the Police prosecutions department, confirmed the outstanding warrants total stood close to 10,000.

Calling for new legislation, he said many drivers are taking advantage of a system that gives them 24 hours to produce their licence to Police after getting stopped.

As a result, they give a false name ? most commonly a relative or a school or college friend ? and unless the arresting officer can tell the suspect is lying, they have to accept what they are told.

?I would safely say that we have a lot of warrants that are a result of false information,? said P.c. Raynor. ?False warrants stay on the system until the person whose name is given is arrested.

?We only know it?s the wrong person when that person comes to court and says, ?I never got that ticket?.?

That time-consuming process requires a traffic officer to attend court and confirm the wrong person is up before magistrates.

P.c. Raynor said often these officers are off duty on the day the case is listed, and have to be paid to come to court, placing a further strain on public coffers.

?It?s often a waste of court time and a waste of money,? added the Prosecutions officer.

?We hope that legislation can be enacted so it forces people to carry a licence. Then Police can verify who somebody is at the scene.?

He said he could not confirm the exact number of false warrants clogging the system, although he admitted the figure was ?pretty high?.

P.c. Raynor added: ?We are dealing with them on a regular basis at Plea Court. People saying, ?it wasn?t me!??

P.c. Raynor said a new points system of disqualification ? already passed by MPs and due to be introduced on the roads soon ? meant people would lose their licences faster.

And he claims this would increase the possibility of people giving false names ? clogging the warrant system up even more.

?It?s fine having a points system, as long as you can ID people,? he warned.

Critics will say that Police should be doing more to tackle the problem, and a senior magistrate recently demanded a renewed drive to slash the backlog.

?We have started to answer that call,? said P.c. Raynor. ?The traffic unit has stepped up patrols and the Police Support Unit is constantly bringing people in on warrants.

?There?s an attempt to make a dent in the problem, but it?s only a small dent. For every one warrant we arrest people for, there?s another ten to 15 being issued a day because people are not showing up for court.?

Half of the 50 people supposed to have attended court on just one day last week failed to show ? adding 25 more names to the fast-growing backlog.

Court officials usually add up to 20 people to that list at the end of each week; these being the defendants who did turn up, asked until Friday to pay fines but never stumped up the cash.

Asked if clearing the warrants and hauling offenders before Magistrates was a Police priority, P.c. Raynor said: ?Police deal with people as they comes across them.

?Sometimes the Police Support Unit might do a warrant blitz and look for certain people on warrants, but because of the large amount (outstanding warrants) it?s hit and miss.?

Bermuda may be a small place, but he added: ?When people want to hide, they can.?

With attempts still being made to boost the under-strength force, he added that there were often not enough resources to conduct a long-term warrants crackdown on top of investigations into robberies and serious assaults.

Meetings between officers and court officials have been held recently in a bid to draw up a strategy to combat the problem.

Possible solutions included setting up a new Police warrant team and a press campaign highlighting the issue.

Other officers contacted about the problem said Government needs to consider ?naming and shaming? warrant offenders by publishing lists of names in the media.

The idea of a new on-line registry was also raised. This would allow residents who might not be aware they are on the warrant list to check on computers if they were supposed to have appeared in court.

P.c. Raynor confirmed that ?apprehension warrants? made up the majority of the backlog, estimating that up to 80 percent of this total is for traffic matters.

Most were for offences like speeding, not having a driver?s licence or failing to stop at red lights.

An apprehension warrant is when someone is ticketed to appear in court ? but does not show.

The estimate of $1-million-plus not falling into Government coffers includes unpaid fines already imposed by Magistrates and the penalties for various offences not yet dealt with.

And P.c. Raynor urged people who knew they have outstanding warrants to make themselves known to Police.

Otherwise, people on the court wanted list faced the embarrassment of getting arrested on a Friday night out ? before spending a weekend in the cells.

In a direct message to those evading the law, he warned: ?We know you have a warrant. Eventually you will get caught.?

Attempts to contact Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner and new Attorney General Philip Perinchief about the warrants backlog were unsuccessful last week.