Vexed Bermoothes

As many other Bermuda voices have pointed out, Dr. Brown’s clamour to gain “operational control” over the Bermuda Police is a red herring.  The real reasons behind this political tactic are likely:

• to avoid being blamed for the catastrophic growth in crime during the PLP tenure
• to fuel resentment against the UK as a proxy for the independence issue which has very little public support
• to try and draw the UK into taking a more active role locally, enabling the PLP to cry oppression (which also appears to be the strategy of the discredited Turks administration)

The fact is that political control over Police operations is not good governance.  Yes, there should a solid consultation environment (which is already provided for under the Bermuda Constitution), but direct political oversight of the routine  management of the Police will inevitably lead to tampering and interference.

Don’t believe me?  Here’s an example:

In the 90′s Bermuda commissioned a report into the reform of the Police, leading to the hiring of non-Bermudian Commissioner Colin Coxall to aggressively implement change.  One of his efforts included bringing in Scotland Yard and the US DEA to conduct Operation Cleansweep, an intensive investigation into Bermuda drug dealers leading to mass arrests.  Although popular with the public as crime rates fell dramatically during his tenure, Coxall was politically disliked by the UBP and the PLP who engineered his early termination.  There was political control over the Police.   As a result, the reform efforts, and crime control, were negatively impacted.

Political interference and police operations are rarely a good marriage.  Don’t be fooled.  Dr. Brown’s fights have little to do with good policing.  They are political posturing.