redeployed in the fight against crime over the Christmas holidays. That is as it should be and as it is most years because none of us want to be hit by crime over Christmas.

Police Commissioner Colin Coxall is quoted as saying that he is monitoring the situation and redeploying his limited resources as they are needed with a view to providing maximum efficiency. That too is as it should be.

Clearly this is not an ideal situation but we have a Police Service which is being restructured and during restructuring there are bound to be problems.

There is a recruiting drive set for the new year to bring the Police Service up to strength. In fact, the Police Service record in recent years for attracting young Bermudians has been a big improvement on previous times.

Yet Shadow Public Safety Minister Alex Scott says that low morale has brought on resignations and threatened Commissioner Coxall's strategy of community policing. Mr. Scott says that the laying off of Assistant Commissioner Wayne Perinchief has sent negative signals to young Bermudians hoping to rise up through the ranks.

Mr. Scott finds in the Service a "feeling of despair for the future prospects of any given officer who wants to get on in his career''. It seems fair to point out that Mr. Perinchief did get to be Assistant Commissioner and received a large cash award and a large pension.

There are real signs that Police Service morale has improved since Commissioner Coxall arrived and began to impose some direction on the Service and since the service began to show progress in reducing crime. These days there is cause for pride in the Police Service. There are also indications that confrontations between the Police and the public are decreasing.

Yes, some people in the Service are unhappy but they are generally people who have been found lacking. No one will doubt that Commissioner Coxall has to do some "house cleaning'' which will not always be a happy situation.

Mr. Scott has lamented the fact that the Police cadet programme has been discontinued. That is true but it should not be confused with the Police training scheme which will continue and where there will be 25 officers training in the new year. The important thing is that there is still every opportunity for qualified young Bermudians to join the Police.

The fact is that the Cadet scheme was costing $650,000 a year and only 25 percent of cadets stayed in the Police Service. That was despite the fact that training per cadet cost a staggering $125,000. The scheme also tied up three full time Police officers. In all the years since the Cadet Scheme was started in 1959 only 15 cadets, or under five percent of those trained, have ever passed a promotion exam and only nine have ever been promoted to Sergeant or above.

It has been suggested that the Cadets be required to serve in the Police for at least two years. However we doubt if Bermuda wants any reluctant Police officers who do not want to police.