to sit on the lap of a senior male officer, was questioned about sexual practices and sexual partners, and was grabbed and groped by senior officers.

These were among the examples of sexual harassment that the former officer said she endured while in the Service.

The woman, who has asked not to be named, also said sexism and racism were rampant in the Service and alleged women were discouraged from joining male-dominated departments, while both blacks and women were not moving up in the ranks as quickly as white males.

While admitting sexual harassment and sexism did exist in the Police Service, Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay pointed out that since a sexual harassment policy was introduced two years ago only one female had made a complaint.

However, Mr. Lemay said the policy was being revised and he revealed he intended to put in place a policy that would eliminate any systemic barriers.

In terms of racism, Police provided statistics which showed that the highest post held by blacks -- who made up the majority of the Service -- was Superintendent.

But blacks outnumbered their white counterparts in the ranks of Chief Inspectors, sergeants, and constables.

Asked why she quit, the former female officer said she had made complaints about sexual harassment by two of her superior officers -- but they were never disciplined.

She was told there would be no formal complaint lodged with the Complaints Board.

Ex-officer claims sexual harassment `rampant' The woman said: "The only thing that happened as a result of the complaints was that I was moved to a different watch.'' Some months later, she was put back on the watch of the sergeant she had made the complaint about and so decided to resign from the Service.

When asked about allegations of sexual harassment, two former male officers confirmed that it happened.

Neither man had witnessed anything first hand. But one said he knew certain officers of rank who were definitely guilty of it.

One of the men agreed that the indiscretions, even the "criminal behaviour'', of senior officers was overlooked.

He said there was a "big boys club'' in the senior ranks where they looked after one another.

He added that if a Police constable ever complained about his superior he was moved out of that officer's command and was basically a marked man after that.

He said the Police Service was like "an extremely abusive parent''.

The former female officer also said career advancement was not what it was promised to be.

The woman claimed the human resources manager did not fulfil her role as a career advisor and instead was principally concerned with public relations.

New recruits are at various stages asked to fill in an A45 form which details their goals and aspirations in the Service. The woman claimed that one of her forms was torn up by her superior officer right in front of her.

As an officer with a college education in science, she was interested in joining the scenes of crime unit.

She said she was first told that she did not have enough experience and then that the unit did not want anyone with a science background because they wanted to teach "from the ground up''.

The woman said she had the prerequisites for the unit, namely a fingerprinting course and photography experience, but was not permitted to join it.

The woman had also expressed interest in joining the Emergency Response Team (ERT), but said she was strongly discouraged from the start.

"It was clear that they did not want women on the ERT because they considered them weak,'' she said.

At the time she was desirous of joining the unit, she claimed every member of it was a white male expatriate and it was made known that it was going to stay that way.

She also said it seemed apparent from the promotions that blacks and women were not moving up in the ranks as quickly as white males.

Both former male officers agreed the woman probably did not have the experience required to join the ERT or the Scenes of Crime unit.

They said the scenes of crime unit required CID and extensive photography experience and the ERT was an extremely physical, elite unit dealing with amongst other things, riots and hostage taking.

Their opinion was that very few women would be able to deal with the rigours demanded from its members.

They also pointed out that there are now two black Bermudian men on the ERT and disagreed that white males were given preferential treatment in the force.

"If anything,'' said one, "there is racism by blacks against whites, particularly expat whites.'' Stressing solutions were being implemented to address such concerns, Mr. Lemay told The Royal Gazette : "We are going to judge people from the shoulders up.'' He stressed that the core value exercise, which assesses the Services core functions and devises a career path within a given department, will address these issues.

Mr. Lemay also noted the sexual harassment policy had led to the establishment of harassment contact officers who are a first point of contact for anyone concerned by sexual harassment.

A male and female officer will investigate a complaint to see if it is genuine, he explained. If there is, the offending officer will undergo sensitivity training. If after this course the officer's behaviour continues, he or she will be disciplined and could be dismissed.

Mr. Lemay said in terms of sexism, he wanted to eliminate any systemic barriers which prevented people from doing what they wanted to do in the job -- anything which would prevent an individual from fulfilling his or her potential.

And he noted that there was work to be done in changing the attitudes of male officers who were against the equal treatment of men and women in the Service.

He also said he was in favour of removing the W from W.P.c. so that male and female constables would be referred to as P.c. He added that men and women of the same rank should receive the same pay and the same training.

Mr. Lemay said he understood the comment made by the former female officer who wanted to join the ERT. He was aware of a case where a female officer had wanted to join the motorcycle patrol unit and had been ostracised by other officers as a result.

He said he intended to put in place a policy which ensured that this kind of thing would not happen.

BREAKDOWN OF THE BERMUDA POLICE SERVICE BY RACE AND RANK Breakdown of the Bermuda Police Service by race and rank: Rank White Black Commissioner 1 0 Asst. Commissioner 1 0 Superintendents 2 2 Chief Inspectors 4 7 Inspectors 13 9 Sergeants 26 41 Constables 82 218 TOTAL 129 277 Female officers in the Bermuda Police Service, broken down by race and rank: White Black Rank Superintendent 0 1 Chief Inspector 0 1 Inspector 0 1 Sergeants 1 4 Constables 13 67 TOTAL 14 71 Defence: Jean-Jacques Lemay Graphic file name: COPREVE