The Bermuda Police Service is to be officially inspected by a UK watchdog with particular focus on action being taken to counter guns, gangs, drugs and violence.Today Governor Sir Richard Gozney announced he has invited Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary to visit Bermuda this year.A statement from Government House said: “The Governor, Sir Richard Gozney, announced on May 18 that with the strong encouragement and endorsement of the Commissioner of Police and the other leaders of the Bermuda Police Service, he has invited Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, Bernard Hogan-Howe, to visit Bermuda this year.“Mr Hogan-Howe has agreed to focus closely on the issues of policing of most concern to the Island: Bermuda Police Service action to counter guns, gangs, drugs and violence. His visit is planned for the autumn, and will be preceded by a senior level preparatory visit from the Inspectorate of Constabulary, in a few weeks' time.”The last visit to Bermuda by Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary was in 2003. The Inspector of Constabulary and his officers making the preparatory visit will charge no fees, unlike consultants. The Bermuda Police Service will need to pay only for their flights and accommodation.The statement added: “The Governor is very glad that Mr Hogan-Howe is making time to accept the invitation to visit the Bermuda Police Service, and to provide something of a cross check on what are the most high profile areas of Police Service work. The Governor and the Bermuda Police Service plan to make public the recommendations which he makes.”In a statement this afteroon the Minister for National Security Wayne Perinchief said the inspection was "timely and encouraging".The Minister continued: “The Government is fully supportive of this important exercise and I had advised Cabinet of the visit and the terms of reference. I look forward to the recommendations.”As part of the preparatory visit of the senior support team in a few weeks’ time, Mr Perinchief has accepted the Governor’s invitation to meet with them and will discuss the terms of reference in more detail.“Mr. Hogan-Howe’s experience with some of the same issues we are facing makes his visit all the more important and I look forward to meeting him and sharing his perspective on addressing the challenges we face in law enforcement."Useful website: www.hmic.gov.ukFactfile: Bernard Hogan-Howe:Mr Hogan-Howe was Chief Constable of Merseyside Police in the north-west of England from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that he spent three years as Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police in London, with responsibility for human resources.He spent an earlier spell of his career with Merseyside Police as Assistant Chief Constable from 1997 to 2001 where his responsibilities included community affairs and area operations.He was born in Sheffield in the north of England and has a Masters in Law from Oxford University, a diploma in applied criminology and an MBA from Sheffield University.Paying tribute to Mr Hogan-Howe when he left Merseyside Police, Deputy Chief Constable Bernard Lawson told the Liverpool Echo newspaper: “His introduction of our Total Policing approach has resulted in Merseyside having the biggest drop in crime across the country in the last three years, with 57,000 less victims of crime.”Total Policing involved officers disrupting fringe criminal activity while detectives targeted the gun criminals. Mr Hogan-Howe oversaw a fall of almost 25 percent in firearms offences in Merseyside during his time at the helm.He took part in a British Government summit on gun crime in the nation's cities in 2007, and subsequently wrote an article for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, setting out his priorities.They included tightening the criminal justice system to take people who refuse to give evidence to court, excluding those involved in gun crime from their communities and tougher measures to tackle the importation of guns.Despite the fall in the number of firearms offences in Merseyside, Mr Hogan-Howe said they had seen an increase in the number of teenagers involved in gun crime.He wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “Teenagers found to be involved in gun crime should be excluded by being sent to prison or other secure accommodation. When these children come from families where crime is an inherent way of life and they harbour those with guns I think action should be taken to exclude them.“Once taken away from the community these families should be managed by agencies involved in the criminal justice system and local authorities. Exclusion is essential so that the rest of the community can feel safe and enjoy their day-to-day lives without fear.”Through his role as an inspector with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Mr Hogan-Howe oversees forces including the Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and British Transport Police in the UK.He's also responsible for watching over the police forces of Guernsey, Gibraltar, Jersey, the Isle of Man and other forces such as Bermuda, by invitation.