Commissioner of Police Michael A. DeSilva CPM - It is my privilege to present the Bermuda Police Service Strategic Plan for the period 2016 to 2018. The plan comprises five areas of strategic focus for the next three calendar years, commencing in January 2016. Specific objectives for each of those years will be provided in the form of separate Annual Policing Plans that will coincide with the Government’s financial years from 1st April until the following 31st March. This ensures there is approved funding available for each specific project that might require it. In this way, strategic plans define “what” we are going to do, and “why.” The annual policing plans then define “how” we are going to do it, and “when.”

When setting strategic direction for the police service it is important to consider together the needs and views of Government House, the Bermuda Government and the police on the management of crime, good order, public security and road safety, and the use of public funds towards these ends. The needs of the community are also important, and to those ends this document represents collaboration between the police, the public and the government. Consultation was also held throughout the Police Service and included each body that represents our staff: the Bermuda Police Association, the Bermuda Public Services Union and the Bermuda Industrial Union. This year, for the first time, we invited a number of private citizens to form an ad-hoc advisory group to be part of the planning process, and we are grateful for their voluntary assistance in helping to shape the final document.

We have narrowed our focus to a set of areas for development that represent shared concerns and agreed priorities across the board. We have established 5 Strategic Priorities, the first three of which are the areas where improvements will make real differences in people’s lives:

1.   Tackling Crime and Antisocial Behaviour: including gangs and violence, working with International Law Enforcement Agencies to help guard Bermuda against the vulnerability of terrorism, organized crime and cybercrime, as well as working with local criminal justice partners to explore a system of Restorative Justice for Bermuda to help provide relief to victims and reduce offending.

2.   Engaging with the community: this sits at the core of our operations and includes neighbourhood policing, youth engagement that is aimed at keeping young people out of the criminal justice system, child safeguarding, and making good use of traditional and social media to stay connected with the community.

3.   Making the Roads Safer: we launched a Road Safety Strategy in January of this year. It is a community collaboration that is designed to save lives, make our roads safer and increase public confidence. It balances robust enforcement with discretion and aims to influence driving behaviour, calm the roads, and reduce road deaths and impaired driving.

The last two strategic priorities are inward-facing areas that will help us to develop competent and capable staff who are trained and experienced to deliver quality service. Additionally, we will give our staff the tools that they need by investing in technology that makes us more effective and efficient:

4.   Investing in Our People: this includes the delivery of a Transformational Leadership programme that focuses on diversity, equality, occupational health and safety, professional development and professional standards.

5.   Optimizing Technology: we are committed to ensuring our technology provides modern, automated assistance to our operations while delivering value for money. We will consult with the Government to invest in technology that makes us more efficient at our job and contributes to public safety.

We have been careful to ensure that our plan is ralistic. This has not been an easy task as this strategy spans the Government’s three-year plan to reduce public budgets by targets of 7%, 5%, and 3%. The reductions in spending on policing and the resulting requirement to create savings have presented significant challenges to find solutions that do not threaten our performance. We cannot “do more with less.” With 85% of our budget allocated to salaries and benefits, there is little fat left to trim from operational costs. But we do have a number of solutions in mind of how to “do the same with less.” We will explore options to improve efficiency by consolidating people, places, and responsibilities. And we will focus on our core functions without the distraction of non-policing roles that we have inherited over the years. To help with this focus, we have established 5 Operational Policing Priorities against which all of our activity will be assessed for relevance:

1.       Enhance public confidence.

2.       Provide highly visible front line policing.

3.       Respond quickly to emergencies.

4.       Conduct timely, quality focused investigations.

5.       Protect vulnerable people.

I believe this Strategic Plan will put the Bermuda Police Service in a good position to deal with change over the next three years. I am looking forward to delivering on this plan and I am encouraged about the future changes and improvements that its implementation will bring about. Please visit our website at www.bermudapolice.bm for an electronic copy of the plan and I welcome any feedback, comments or suggestions that anyone might want to share with us.