investigating modern crimes.

Three former officers, who levelled this claim, told The Royal Gazette Police were left to solve crime with substandard equipment and inadequate training.

Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay disputed this, stating that Police here have some of the best equipment in the world.

However, he admitted that there was room for improvement in training. And he said the process was well underway.

Mr. Lemay also revealed that a complete review of the Criminal Investigation Division will take place next spring.

His comments came after the former officers, who do not wish to be named, described working conditions which they said led to their departure.

One of the former officers acknowledged that the Service was trying to upgrade its equipment, but said there was still a long way to go.

"The cars had bald tires and the seats in the cars were not secured so that when you went around a corner, the seat came up off the floor of the car,'' a former female officer claimed.

Other examples of substandard equipment, she said, were broken typewriters and computers.

Two former male officers agreed that issued equipment was substandard and was made worse because it was damaged or neglected by certain officers.

They also claimed that there was a deteriorating standard of personnel entering the Police Service.

One of the men interviewed said he had quit because standards had deteriorated so dramatically since he joined the Service.

The other man said: "I am alarmed at the number of unprofessional and inadequate officers in Bermuda.'' He added that it was the inability of the Police Service to attract quality Bermudians that was a large cause of the staffing problem -- particularly when there were more attractive, better paying options.

"Those who join the force soon discover that they cannot own a home and support a family on the pay and that together with everything else that a P.c.

has to put up with, it's no surprise that they decide it isn't worth it,'' he said.

But the former officer was most perturbed about the Police Service's inability to deal with serious crimes.

He told how he arrived at a bloody crime scene and overheard the officer in charge requesting the Fire Service.

When he asked the officer why the Fire Service had been called, he was told they were needed to hose down the crime scene -- which would destroy vital evidence.

Slipping standards He said the officer should have arranged for the collection of samples from the scene instead of arranging for the destruction of the evidence.

Giving an example of outdated methods, he said the recording of an interview with a suspect is still taken down longhand instead of taped.

According to the former officer, this was a situation begging to be abused, and it was.

Officers also exhibited abusive behaviour by deliberately arresting someone on a Friday and putting them in the foul holding cells at Hamilton Police Station for the weekend, knowing that they could not appear before a magistrate until Monday, he said.

He could think of two high profile cases where this had been done and remarked that if he had to spend 72 hours in those cells, which he described as "the most disgusting place I have ever seen'', he would probably willingly confess to a crime even if he was innocent just to get out of there.

The man said there was almost a fear of change within the Service and if senior officers did not start to sort out all of these problems, the Service faced even more difficult times.

In response, Mr. Lemay insisted that the Bermuda Police Service was addressing them.

He pointed to "state-of-the-art'' handcuffs, a retractable baton -- which is used in life threatening situations, bullet-proof and knife-resistant vests, and fire retardant overalls as some of the modern equipment available to the Bermuda Police Service.

Mr. Lemay also stressed no other overseas dependent territory had this level of equipment which he pointed out was in accordance with UK standards.

The Service has just purchased 14 new cars and six motorcycles are on order, he said. And for the first time, the Police Service will have an emergency response vehicle.

The Commissioner stated there are nine Rovers in the traffic division and the Service now has off-road motorcycles to better pursue offenders trying to escape from Police.

Mr. Lemay said all vehicles are regularly maintained. He also noted the Service was considering adopting a new vehicle to replace the Mitsubishi Lancer altogether.

But he said different standards of discipline were imposed by the various past Commissioners and that this had led to difficulties.

An example was that his immediate predecessor, Commissioner Colin Coxall, had permitted officers to have beards whilst he himself did not agree with this.

Mr. Lemay said he was wrestling with this issue in order to come up with a policy. He acknowledged that officers have lives outside of work and that he was trying to take this into consideration where things such as personal appearance were concerned.

The Commissioner also said he was encouraging the officers to make a commitment to stay physically fit and to watch their weight, stressing the Service needed to be healthy to keep medical costs and absenteeism to a minimum.

In terms of the Service's ability to investigate crime, Commissioner Lemay agreed that in the past there had been no crime management strategies, but now programmes were in place.

"Training is what is needed to overcome these problems,'' he said, adding that many Police personnel had been sent overseas on special training assignments.

Mr. Lemay said officers were now more efficient and more effective in managing crime and that the Service was committed to training and upgrading officers.

Two officers are currently attending a Strategic Command Course to enable them to assist with changes to CID which are planned for early in 2000.

When compared to other jurisdictions, the Commissioner noted that Bermuda's figures for the rate of crimes solved were impressive. In Bermuda 77 percent of reported crimes are solved whereas in Canada the figure is 50 percent.

He also noted that Public Safety Minister Paula Cox has asked for a list of legislation which needs to be updated in order for the Police Service and the administration of justice to stay abreast of modern day practices.

An example of this, he said, was the Summary Offences Act which dates back to 1926.

Mr. Lemay said the Service was committed to introducing modern techniques and that shortly videotaped interviews will be introduced and the requisite training will take place.