The Governor should hand over operational control of policing to Government, according to the Permanent Police Tribunal.

In its Bermuda Police Association Arbitration Award, the Tribunal report suggested the Bermuda Police Service was mismanaged, particularly as "recruitment to the higher ranks was also made from abroad".

It said Bermudian recruits should be encouraged to join the Force through assistance in housing with a House Purchase Plan, plus a two-year degree scholarship following three years of service.

The report also disclosed that Police Commissioner George Jackson has claimed there are some areas on the Island where it is unsafe for Police officers to live. The Tribunal reported the Commissioner had said "there were neighbourhoods where, for security reasons, he would not want a Police Officer to live".

The Tribunal said: "This is a contradiction. If a neighbourhood is not safe for a Police Officer, it can't be safe for other citizens. Steps should be taken to encourage a Police presence in every neighbourhood in Bermuda."

It recommended an additional $500 a month in Government funding to the House Purchase Plan for officers willing to move into "neighbourhoods where there is a dearth of Police officers of where neighbourhoods are considered high risk for a Police officer to own his own home".

The Tribunal called for a training programme to equip Bermudian officers for promotion to higher ranks, stating: "We noticed that recruitment to the higher ranks was also made from abroad. This certainly gives credence to the argument from Government that there is something drastically wrong with the management of the Service."

The report continued: "When Government argued that there was mismanagement of the Police Service the Tribunal realised the difficulty which must face the Government since it does not exercise full control over the Police Service.

"The Governor has Constitutional responsibility for the Police Service, however, some aspects of the management have been delegated to the Government. Unifying responsibility does not guarantee efficiency in any organisation. However, splitting responsibility almost always guarantees inefficiency. The man who pays the Piper should be able to call the tune. The buck must stop somewhere.

"We see no reason for the Governor not to delegate operational control of the Police Service to the Government so that the management of the Service can be improved. In any event, such delegation can always be withdrawn if it is not seen to be working."

Commenting on the report and Government's call for a judicial review of the Permanent Police Tribunal's binding Arbitration Award yesterday, Government House told The Royal Gazette: "We are following the issue closely, not least because the Police are one of the Governor's special responsibilities. Police pay is a matter delegated to the Government of Bermuda.

"As for operational control of the Police, that belongs, quite rightly, with the Police Commissioner, and not Government House nor the Government of Bermuda."

Tribunal Chairman Arthur Hodgson was unavailable for further comment yesterday. Other findings of the Tribunal for the Bermuda Police Association Arbitration Award include:

Adding the Combined Allowance to officers' pay, to make it pensionable: The Tribunal proposed redefining this payment as a Salary Supplement on the same percentage basis but that it "be pensionable in the same way as salary".

Amending the Police Act 1974 to remove the Commissioner's right to suspend officers without pay: Both parties agreed to amend the Act so that an officer should be suspended on full pay "unless he or she is in custody following conviction by a court or the officer is absent without leave and his/her whereabouts are not known to the Commissioner of Police".

Allocation of legal expenses of up to $100,000 per year by Government for officers charged with offences incurred while at work: Government "appeared to concede that Police Officers should be publicly funded for their legal defence with respect to criminal charges arising out of the performance of their duties."

The Tribunal also concluded officers should have access to legal aid.

Salary increases: Government offered a 4.5 percent rise for October 2005-6 and four percent for October 2006-7, while the BPA requested seven percent. But due to "its award with respect to other items in the terms of reference", the Tribunal concluded "it need not consider their request as a part of the percentage award". The Tribunal therefore awarded 4.5 percent for the first year and four percent for the second.

Superannuation and retirement: The Tribunal said the Police compulsory retirement age should be brought in line with the rest of the Civil Service. "In the absence of this there should be a further increase in pay equal to the increase in the percentage of wage deductions for pensions," it said.

Housing Subsidy — the BPA wants a housing subsidy of $350 per month for officers not living in Police-provided accommodation: The Tribunal noted that although housing was provided for recruits from overseas, it was not provided for Bermudian recruits. It said some non-Bermudian recruits were even "put up in hotels", and that greater assistance for housing would encourage more Bermudians into the Force.

Taking housing costs into account, the Tribunal suggested Police pay "should be in a range of between $8,000 and $12,800 per month". But it said: "Even if Police pay increased by 18 percent, the starting salary would increase to only $5,011 per month. Any way one wants to examine the statistics it is clear that by the Government's own standards, Police pay is well below Government's target figures."

It therefore awarded a special House Purchase Plan for all Bermudians in the Bermuda Police Service, to be paid into by both Government and individual officers for the purpose of reducing an existing mortgage or making a down payment. The Tribunal recommended a Government monthly contribution of $1,000 and officer's payment of $500 to the Plan.

However, if Government rejected this as not in the Arbitration Award's "terms of reference", the Tribunal recommended the percentage increase in pay to be "in line with the request made by the BPA of seven percent for each of the three years in question, and the BPA be granted its request with respect to housing subsidy".

Calls by the BPA for the Bermuda Police Service to be "Bermudianised": Concluding "pay and conditions of service were inadequate", the Tribunal said that Government had argued "that the problem of recruitment to the Service was due not so much to pay and conditions but to mismanagement and non-performance".

It recommended the Governor and Government "embark upon an enquiry" to address the issues of Bermudianisation, inflation, home ownership, community policing, education and management.