Police yesterday admitted they failed to log the first call from a woman who waited almost 45 minutes for an answer to a 911 emergency alert.

And the Police Service offered "sincere apologies'' to Marsha Smith and her family for officers' failure to respond after an attempted break-in at her home.

Mrs. Smith said she placed three calls starting at 8.55 p.m. and it took 42 minutes for a Police car to arrive at her Warwick home.

Police at first said the initial call was logged at 9.08 p.m. and that officers were on the scene at 9.27 p.m.

Mrs. Smith, however, insisted she made three calls before Police arrived at 9.37 p.m.

And yesterday a Police spokeswoman said: "There were in fact three calls placed by Mrs. Smith that evening.

"Only two were logged in, beginning at 9.08 p.m. Unfortunately, and most regrettably, the original call made at 8.55 p.m. was not immediately apparent during our initial investigation into the matter, due to a combination of system failure and human error.

"In this instance, the Bermuda Police Service did not deliver the level of service that the public has come to expect from us.'' Police admitted the error more than a week after the Saturday, October 17, ordeal for Mrs. Smith and her family.

Mrs. Smith stressed yesterday she was a firm supporter of the Police Service and appreciated the difficult job they were faced with -- and praised Supt.

George Jackson for his sympathetic response to her series of complaints.

And she added that she had also received a personal call from Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay.

Mrs. Smith said: "I'm grateful to Mr. Jackson, who handled the situation in a professional manner from the time he spoke to me on Tuesday.

"Nobody seemed to believe me. They said they could only go by their records.

"All I wanted was for them to see that the 911 service was not dependable and that I did wait 45 minutes.

911 call was not logged "I just hope that now the public can feel more secure when they do dial 911.'' Police launched a probe after Mrs. Smith's nightmare wait was reported in The Royal Gazette .

And they said an "unusually high'' number of burglaries in the Warwick area on the same night, as well as the Dockyard Jazz Festival had contributed to the delay -- and that officers had responded as quickly as possible, given the available resources.

The incident came in the wake of falling Police numbers and a on-Island recruiting drive which failed to produce a significant number of suitable recruits.

Mrs. Smith said: "I understand this is going to be discussed in the House of Assembly and I think it all came about because I was so persistent.'' And she added: "If I hadn't called The Royal Gazette , I don't think anything would have been done.'' Mrs. Smith said: "If it's a shortage of Police, you have to get the people, whether they're Bermudians or not.

"It doesn't make sense to run a Police Service understaffed because they can't get Bermudians.

"When you desperately need help, you don't care where it's coming from or what race or nationality they are.'' And she said: "I hope that Government takes a look at the Police and realises if they're understaffed, they need help.''