Thu, 2015-12-17

As part of the new Strategic Plan released by the BPS last week, a review was conducted of the Bermuda Reserve Police (BRP) to streamline the command structure and create a more efficient supervisory and management system. Supervisory ranks in the Reserves, which traditionally mirrored the same ranks in the full-time police, have been re-titled and given new insignia to be worn on the uniform.

Commissioner of Police, Mr. Michael DeSilva, explained: “The roles and responsibilities of BRP supervisors are significantly different from those of their counterparts in the BPS. For example, Reserve supervisors do not have the same powers under the Police And Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act when it comes to powers of detention, bail, searching private homes, and so on.

I felt it was important that we find a new insignia that appropriately reflects the unique supervisory role in the BRP. At the same time I am sensitive to the impact these changes might have on our officers, and I have been careful to keep things subtle.

The Sergeant rank has been renamed “Section Officer,” and the Inspector and Chief Inspector rank have been combined to form the “Chief Officer” rank. There are no changes to the insignia worn by Reserve Constables.”

The new insignia are as follows:

 L to R: Constable, Section Officer, Chief Officer, Assistant Commandant, Deputy Commandant, Commandant.

During a small ceremony held on Thursday 10th December the Commissioner, along with Commandant Sandra Beach and Deputy Commandant Ron-Michel Davis, appointed the following Reserve Officers to their new ranks: Assistant Commandant Arnim Donawa, Chief Officer Mikkel Harris, Chief Officer Shawn Russell, Chief Officer Timothy Vieira, Chief Officer Adam Hall, Section Officer Jeffrey Benevides, Section Officer Michael Terceira, Section Officer Sherry Tucker, Section Officer Jason Simons, Section Officer Kennia Jones, Section Officer Karim Hewey.

The Commissioner and the Commandant reported that they had agreed to commence recruiting efforts with a target of reaching 100 Reserve Officers during the 2016/17 financial year, which represents an increase of about 30% on their current strength.

Commandant Beach said, “The Bermuda Reserve Police has provided support to the Bermuda Police Service for many years and in recent years we have been able to make a real success of integrating more and can now stand alongside the career officers in almost every area of policing.

I can assure you that every officer who is either newly appointed or otherwise promoted this evening has expressed their commitment to this organization. We have a strong and amazing team, one that will bring continued success and cause the Bermuda Reserve Police to shine even more.

My vision is that the Bermuda Reserve Police will provide even greater levels of support and work even more closely with the Bermuda Police Service. This will happen as we set about assisting with the Strategic Plan for the years 2016-2018.

Some of this has already taken place beginning with the streamlining of the command and control structure within the Reserves so that we can move our resources toward providing more operational support on the front line of policing.

We have already started our recruitment effort toward achieving a full complement of 100 Officers, with a new Recruit Foundation Course scheduled to start February 2016.”

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