Mountie Jean-Jacques Lemay is looking forward to his move due south, he revealed.

And the top Canadian cop turned Bermuda Deputy Police Commissioner is set to live up to the Mounties' unofficial motto of always getting their man -- or woman.

For he said his priority is to identify Bermudian candidates to take over the jobs of Deputy Police Commissioner and Commissioner.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent said: "Commissioner Coxall and myself will be working together to try and attain that objective and I think it's something which can be achieved.'' Ch. Supt. Lemay was speaking to The Royal Gazette in his first-ever interview with the Island's media.

And he said he was delighted to have been asked to sign up with the Bermuda Police on an 18-month temporary posting.

He added: "Canada was asked to provide the name of a candidate for the position -- we felt it was both an honour and an opportunity for us.

"My Commissioner approached me and asked if I was interested in competing for the job. I was very fortunate to be chosen and I'm very honoured.'' Ch. Supt. Lemay said his first trip to Bermuda was for his job interview -- but that he was struck by the similarities between the Island and Canada.

He explained: "I found a lot of similarities in terms of the judicial system which is used in Bermuda and the Parliamentary system is very similar.'' And he said: "My first experience was a positive one. I had meetings with the Government, the Governor and the Deputy Governor and I was briefed on the previous appointments which were made. I am not saying I have an in-depth knowledge of the issues, but I have a pretty good idea of what the concerns are.'' And he added that much of Commmisioner Coxall's blueprint for the force -- like civilianising administrative jobs to release officers for Police work -- is on a par with the Canadian approach.

He said: "A lot of things in the Police strategy are things we have been doing in the RCMP.

"We all want to provide a better level of service to the communities we serve and we can only do that by by increasing the number of uniformed people.

"We are doing that in Canada by asking if a job requires someone who has Police training.

"Every Police organisation has to go through that process. Sometimes it's a difficult one because people see opportunities disappearing, but we need that balance between civilians and officers to ensure growth and development.

"There are positions currently held by Police officers which can be converted to civilian posts.

"It's a very positive step to take these individuals who are trained to be Police officers and putting them in the jobs they are trained to do at the delivery level.'' And Ch. Supt. Lemay is well-qualified for his new role as headhunter for Bermuda's top Police posts -- he is currently director of staffing and personnel at the RCMP's Ottawa HQ.

He said: "I have been working in human resources -- staffing, recruiting and personnel and dealing with officer development.

Committed to `community policing' "But my experience is very much diversified and I am committed to the community policing philosophy.

"I think the experience I have gained on the operational side and the administrative side will be most helpful in this particular assignment.

Ch. Supt. Lemay also took a leading role in the Mounties' programme to identify possible high flyers early in their careers -- the Potential Executive Development Programme.

He said: "The programme identifies individuals who have the potential to move to the higher ranks.

"We work with the managers and the civilian staff to develop an action plan to see what's missing so officers can reach these levels.'' And the Mounties are a family affair for Ch. Supt Lemay -- he is one of four brothers in the force and his 26-year-old son is currently serving in Alberta.

Ch. Supt. Lemay's career spans 31 years and he has worked at Federal and Provincial level.

He joined the Mounties as a Constable in 1965 aged 19 and worked in Montreal and New Brunswick.

And he has taught law and human resources to recruits at the RCMP Academy and served overseas with Interpol in Paris for two years tracking the proceeds of criminal activities like international drug dealing. In 1986 he returned to Ottawa to take over the RCMP commercial crime section.

Ch. Supt. Lemay returned to the Academy in 1991 as Superintendent in charge of training.

Two years later, he was picked by the United Nations Security Council to act as Commissioner of the international force sent to strife-torn Haiti.

And in the 70s, he worked on the Mounties' Cross-cultural Programme, designed to promote cultural sensitivity among officers. He said: "There was a need to ensure we had programmes in place to make our officers more aware in addressing the needs of the communities we were serving.''