Commissioner of Police Michael DeSilva - I am pleased to present the 2013/14 Annual Policing Plan for the Bermuda Police Service (BPS). This is the second of three plans under our three-year Strategic Plan for 2012 to 2015. The plan is aligned with the financial year 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014 so that available funding and operational priorities are considered together. It has been prepared in consultation with His Excellency the Governor and the Minister for Public Safety. The  final document represents the shared aims across the community for the police to deliver a high quality of service that is focused on people and aimed at safety.

Our operational priorities remain the same as the last three years: we are focused on those crimes that are of most concern to the community and that cause the greatest harm: guns, gangs, drugs and violence.

Our work this year will not only be aimed at “Making Bermuda Safer,” but making Bermuda feel safer as well. In our small community the fear of crime is just as important as the actual crimes themselves. We will therefore focus our work on five basic policing functions:

1. Bring dangerous offenders to justice.
2. Make our neighbourhoods safer.
3. Reduce the fear of crime.
4. Provide visible, accessible and effective patrols.
5. Calm the traffic on our roads.

Some of the key initiatives in the plan include:

• Increased capacity to seize criminal assets and cash.
• Expansion of CCTV across the island.
• Increased visibility and accessibility of uniformed police officers.
• Selective Traffic Enforcement Programme (STEP) aimed at dangerous driving behaviours with strict enforcement.
• An anti-corruption framework that includes a drug testing policy and an enhanced vetting policy for sensitive areas of the Service like firearms, drugs and intelligence.
• A Call Centre to provide support for non-emergency calls that do not require an immediate police response.
• Partnerships with the Island’s schools to deliver joined-up education and prevention initiatives on gang resistance, drug awareness and road safety.
• Expansion of the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and the Community Action Groups (CAGs) in partnership with the Ministry of Public Safety.
• The development of a Code of Practice, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Safety, for the planning and safe management of large public events.
• A review of the Bermuda Reserve Police in order to get the most effective use out of their volunteer hours.
• And internally, we will conduct training and implement programmes to maintain a quality and skilled workforce that is healthy, motivated, and properly equipped.