Friday night was relatively quiet right across the Island, with only the odd road traffic accident, driving offence and pub rowdies to deal with.

With 1,000 sailors docked on the Island for the weekend, the atmosphere in Hamilton was very much alive, and save for a small incident between a group of sailors and locals at a Front Street club, it stayed jovial.

However, the officers on duty had to be prepared for anything.

Sergeant Darrin Simons joined the force seven years ago and has aspirations of moving up.

He has worked the beat, sat at the wheel of response vehicles, had a short attachment to CID, and is now in the training school.

But he said what he loved most about his job was the variety and that people were always at the centre of his duties.

Even in threatening or upsetting situations, the most satisfying part of all was making somebody somewhere feel better.

He said: "I like people and so the best thing for me is knowing that I have immediately made a difference to somebody's life.'' And he said some of the incidents that stand out in his memory the most are things like domestic disputes.

He said: "One incident sticks out in my mind where I had attended a domestic dispute and found the couple screaming at each other. The man had been stabbed in his back.

"We managed to calm the situation down.

"A little while later, I walked along the hallway in the house, and in one room there was a ray of light shining through the doorway. As I looked, I just remember seeing some little feet sticking out.

"When I went into the room, there were three children, all under the age of eight, sat huddled in the corner. The elder one was holding the smaller two very protectively. They were obviously upset and afraid, but weren't making a sound.

"It was a sight I don't think I will ever forget.'' Although, Friday night was not all action, there were speeding or dangerous motorists, suspicious characters to check out, and accident victims to tend to.

A motorcyclist had to be stretchered to hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning after his bike clipped a roundabout in Southside, St.

David's.

Fortunately, he only received minor facial injuries and was not expected to be in any danger.

During routine vehicle checks on Kindley Field Road in St. George's a taxi driver ended up being taken away in handcuffs.

After officers pulled him over for a routine check, they discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest.

His car was taken off the road, the driver transported away in a Police car, and his concerned passenger taken the rest of her journey home by officers.

We checked out regular drug haunts around the Island, where abusers had become a problem to local residents, kept a close eye on groups of teenagers hanging around the streets, particularly in areas, such as the Town Square in St.

George's, where drug dealing has been known to take place.

At one point, we even went searching for a reported bush fire. However, the funniest part of the shift, was quite unexpected.

We came across a car in a dark alleyway, which Sgt. Simons at first suspected was the scene of an illicit drug deal. Not so.

It was only when we got closer to the jeep that we discovered it contained a cavorting couple in a state of undress. The sight doesn't bare thinking about.

Little action was needed. The presence of the Police car just a few feet away was enough to see that a premature end was brought to whatever might have been happening.

The way an officer deals with somebody can have a lot to do with the response they get and the outcome of a situation.

Even on the quietest of nights, such as Friday, they have to deal with a variety of characters.

Whether it be a truck driver being pulled over for traffic offences, the drunk in the street, or a sex assault victim, each individual has to be dealt with in a different manner.

"If somebody responds well to being pulled over by the Police and does what they can to assist you, then that person is likely to think twice about what they have done,'' said Sgt. Simons.

"The truck driver I just stopped said he did not normally carry that kind of load (asphalt) and he underestimated his ability to overtake a car with that load.

"I asked him to put the tarpaulin on the load - his load must be covered. He said he was carrying wet asphalt which was not likely to fall off the load as dry would, so I gave him a verbal warning.'' Sgt. Simons said he loved his work, particularly in the training school, where he felt he could help to contribute to the training schedule, help to draw up new policies, and see people develop.

But he said it was an exciting time for Bermuda Police Service, with many changes happening now and planned for the future.

One shift, he said, was in the way people were trained.

"Training has always been tweaked, but three years ago I think there was a major change,'' he added.

"We need people who can say `ok, I have visited this accident scene 13 times in the last month. I need to fix the problem - not just respond to them when they crop up again'.

"It's an exciting time - we can be pro-active and make a difference.

"It's a great career, and I can honestly say that I love going to work.

"I think Police officers are a special breed of people.'' Marine patrol: Marine Section PC Larry Dean is featured tomorrow as part of The Royal Gazette's coverage of Police week. He tells how he and two colleagues battled huge waves and treacherous rip tides in a desperate search to find a missing swimmer in the dark.