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In January 2024 we heard the excellent news that our comprehensive History of the Bermuda Police written by Chris Wilcox with assistance from Roger Sherratt, has now been accepted and published on the British Police History  website which is beautifully illustrated can be found at  https://british-police-history.uk/f/bermuda The BPH website has now compiled the histories of 689 of over 1,000 Police Forces represented to varying degrees on their website. 

The Editor of the British Police History website explains, “The site strives to convey the history of police forces and the working lives of the individual officers through words and imagery to bring a new level of shared understanding and appreciation of our policing past and present to visitors. The many contributors to the site and to our Journal of British Police History include serving and retired Officers as well as police historians and the families of those with ancestors who served in the police. We hope you will find the site of interest.

“Not content to merely research and document the mainland British Police forces, we have wanted to expand the site to include the many British Overseas Territories and have been delighted to be able to work with Roger and Chris to include the details of the history of policing in Bermuda.”

The above are some of the numerous illustrations in the
Bermuda Police section of the British Police History website
 

The primary purpose of our own ExPo Bermuda webste is to record our collective history in the Bermuda Police Service, and we encourage our former and retired police officers to sit down and write about their own history and personal experiences so they can be recorded for posterity.  Former officers are invited to write about their reminiscences for our “Then and Now” column, while family members of officers who are no longer with us are invited to liaise with us to write about their loved ones for our “Hall of Fame”.

Our website is also intended to provide members with a means of keeping in touch with each wherever they are in the world through our “Keeping in Touch” column.

We are sincerely grateful to the publishers of the British Police History website for the absolutely first-class presentation of our own Bermuda Police History in their fine publication.

 

List of articles and publications relating to the History of Bermnuda Police

  • “The Policing of Bermuda from the Earliest of Times” by E.A. “Ted” Burton. This excellent in-depth article on the early history of the Bermuda Police was published in the Bermuda Historical Quarterly – Autumn Edition 1955. It can be viewed in its entirely in an article “Policing of Bermuda by E.A ‘Ted’ Burton”written by George Rose and published on our ExPo website at https://expobermuda.com/index.php/lia/953-police-of-bermuda-e-a-burton
  • Bermuda Police magazine Centennial Issue 1879-1979 published in 1979.This magazine provides comprehensive information and illustrations of our  Police history on the occasion if its Centennial.  In February 2024, with the assistance of a generous donation made by Mr. Rees Fletcher, we were able to publish our collection of Police Magazines dated from 1955 - 1994 on our ExPo website. The 1979 magazine can be viewed at https://expobermuda.com/index.php/bps-magazine-catalog?view=article&id=1347: 
  • Illustrated Talk on History of Bermuda Police– Presented at a lecture on the history of the Bermuda Police given by Roger Sherratt during Police Week 2024 on the occasion of its 135th Anniversary. You can view the presentation here on our ExPo website at    https://expobermuda.com/index.php/lia/312-policehistorylecture
  • “History of the Bermuda Police” book written to celebrate the 135th Anniversary of the Bermuda Police.  Initially available in bookstores it was a limited edition and may no longer be available for sale, however,  during the project to scan and publish copies of our Police Magazine collection, the highly illustrated book was also scanned and it can be viewed on our ExPo website at https://expobermuda.com/index.php/bps-magazine-catalog?view=article&id=1348:  
  • “Bermuda Police History”- This  historical review was produced in September 1999 by Chris Wilcox and was reproduced from the publication “Historical Review of the Bermuda Police Force 1879-1999  edited, designed and produced by Alexander MacDonald of the Bermuda Police . This review, which is not illustrated, can be viewed on the official website of the Bermuda Police Service at https://bermudapolice.bm/content/bermuda-police-history   
Charles Edward "D.O." Simons at his desk in CID
at Hamilton Police Station 
 

In addition to the above publications our  ExPo Bermuda website has published many articles containing fascinating  historical information uncovered when researching the lifestories of individual police officers who have played significant roles in the development of the Bermuda Police. A prime example is our “Hall of Fame” article on the life of Charles Edward “D.O” Simons, Bermuda’s Brilliant first Detective, born in 1880, who joined the Police Force in 1905, and went on to become our first “Detective Officer” in 1919 and was for many years Bermuda’s only detective. CLICK HERE for his article. 

Detective Inspector Edward "Bosun" Swainson
 

Another example is our “Hall of Fame” article on the life of Edward R. “Bosun" Swainson who, in addition to being the first cricket player to score a century in Cup Match went on to become  our first black Inspector. CLICK HERE for his article.