Radical changes to the Bermuda Police Service are creating uncertainty among senior ranks and could block promotion for junior officers, The Royal Gazette was told last night.

The new Police Commissioner, Mr. Colin Coxall, laid out his vision for the future of the Force in the wide-ranging Service Strategy released on Tuesday.

It aims to strengthen the Service's ability to fight crime, but it will also slim down the hierarchy, reducing the three Assistant Commissioner posts to just one.

Civilians will be employed in senior management roles and Mr. Coxall said the ranks of Superintendents will also be reduced from four to three.

Last night one source told The Royal Gazette that the plans had created a degree of uncertainty among the senior officers, although he said the Commissioner was "working through that''.

"Clearly it will take time to evolve the new strategy and bring it into place. I would think that a lot of senior officers are near to retirement age which I think will be taken into consideration,'' the source said.

"No-one has been told anything except what is in the strategy and what has been in the newspaper,'' added the source.

It is felt the Force is quite young on average and officers will be able to adapt to their new roles, but the real crunch will be if the Finance Minister, the Hon. David Saul accepts the increased costs involved.

Final costings have not yet been worked out, although they are likely to be considerable. It is likely they will be presented in time for the Budget, next February.

Two Assistant Commissioners are Mr. Wayne Perinchief and Mr. Harold Moniz. The third, Mr. Alan Bissell, is currently an Acting Assistant. It is thought that yesterday all three did not know where their futures rested.

However, Mr. Bissell said last night: "I think the strategy is very good. I think it will be a good blueprint for the future.'' Many of the senior officers are quite close to retirement age and it is thought that reductions could be made through "natural wastage'', the practice of not renewing a post when a person leaves or retires.

Mr. Coxall has already stated the strategy is not a "quick fix'' and will take three to four years to implement.