Bermuda Police Service - History of Law Enforcement in Bermuda

History of Law Enforcement in Bermuda

Bermuda's first police, from settlement until 1879, had been nine Parish constables (one for each Parish). These positions were filled by men appointed for twelve months, unpaid service, until pay was introduced in the 19th Century. These appointments were compulsory, akin to jury service.

Dissatisfaction with the quality of this part-time Constabulary led to the formation of the Bermuda Police Force under the Police Establishment Act, 1879. The new body consisted of ten full-time constables under Superintendent J. C. B. Clarke. Three of the constables were based in Hamilton, with Clarke, three in St. George's, with Chief Constable H. Dunkley, and two in Somerset, and there were still twenty-one part-time Parish constables.

The size of the police force was trebled in 1901. The first Detective was appointed in 1919, and the Force was reorganised again in 1920, with eighteen constables recruited from the UK raising its strength to forty-six. The size of the force grew steadily over the following decades.

The Bermuda Reserve Constabulary was created in 1951. After the closure of Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard and associated military garrison in 1958, Police Headquarters and other elements relocated to Prospect Camp, the former military headquarters. A Womans' Department was established in 1961 with the first five female police officers. A marine section was formed in 1962, its first large boat, the Heron, being built by police officers in their spare time.