to the defence of Bermuda's embattled Police chief.

Sir John yesterday ripped into a Policeman who accused Commissioner Mr.

Lennett Edwards of mismanagement and letting morale slump.

He said the officer's criticisms would have a "poisonous'' effect on morale.

And he challenged him: prove you can do better by winning promotion to Mr.

Edwards' job.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Labour Party yesterday also slammed Police manpower cuts.

It backed Judge Stephen Tumim's call for a boost to community policing, saying residents feared for their safety while crime soared.

Shadow Delegated Affairs Minister Mr. Stanley Morton hit out: "There is a very real concern out there in my constituency and others about the breakdown of community values.

"People have very real fears about their security. This includes single persons living alone, single women, the elderly, and individuals generally.'' The Policeman criticised Mr. Edwards and other senior officers in an anonymous letter to The Royal Gazette this week.

He said Mr. Edwards had lost his men's confidence, and put the community at risk through cuts and mismanagement and claimed many Policemen are in positions that could be held by civilians.

But yesterday Sir John said although the officer claimed his was not a poison pen letter, it would have a poisonous effect on Police morale.

Sir John continued by accusing the officer of blaming Mr. Edwards for manpower cuts, while ignoring the impact of the recession.

"Mr. Edwards did not want the cuts, but understood their necessity, and correctly sought to manage them effectively.

"Most of us suffer from the belief that we can do someone else's job better than he or she can.

"Happily, people of good sense do not give way to the impulse to criticise on that basis because they realise that there are always factors involved of which they are not aware.'' Sir John went on: "The majority of this anonymous Policeman's letter of complaint is taken up with the opinion that hiring civilians to do some jobs in the force would save money, and allow more Policemen to be applied to the operational side of the force.

"Although superficially, this seems a very attractive proposition, its benefits are not quite so cut and dried when looked at carefully.

"For a start, the civilians also have to be paid and given benefits, so hiring a civilian to replace a Policeman does not mean a gain of one Policeman, it means the Police must let the Policeman go, and simply save the difference between the Policeman's wage and the civilian's wage.

"In some cases, especially those jobs civilianised by a method other than that of natural attrition, the process of civilianisation might well mean greater cost to the Police budget.'' Sir John also stressed civilians could not be called out on a Police emergency.

"A study of the effects of civilianisation on the force is being conducted at the moment.

"While I do not wish in any way to give the impression that either I or those doing the study have prejudged the situation, the benefits are plainly not going to be as dramatic and clear-cut as the Policeman who wrote the letter, and others, would have the public believe.'' Sir John said he assumed the letter-writer was non-Bermudian.

"I feel bound to say that I get a little tired of people who complain about experienced officers being replaced by recruits.

"Very often, that complaint is a thinly disguised effort to preserve the status quo of contract officers, despite the fact that that has the effect of keeping Bermudians out of the force.

"I believe that Bermudians are perfectly capable of being excellent Policemen -- indeed we have lots of examples, Commissioner Edwards being one.'' Sir John said Bermuda was determined to maintain its policy of Bermudianising the Force.

And he predicted the morale, efficiency, and image of the Police would shoot upwards if officers continued to work well.