Whilst doing research in the Royal Gazette archives, our good friend retired Supt  George Rose, came across the following article published in the Royal Gazette on December 19, 1969, reporting on the graduation from Police Training School of Course #12.

The graduating class, which included recruits hired from the West Indies, were addressed by the Member for Finance, the Hon J.H. (Jack) Sharpe and his comments included a hint that the Police could soon expect higher salaries. The Royal Gazette article reads as follows:- 

Member for Finance the Hon. J. H. Sharpe, M.C.P., hinted yesterday that the Police could expect higher salaries at the conclusion of current negotiations over pay scales. He was addressing 16 recruits who became regular constables at a brief ceremony at Prospect. “I wish I could say that negotiations concerning your salary were complete but this is not so," said Mr. Sharpe. 

He drew laughter when he said he had applied for Police duty 27 years ago while serving in the Army but had not been accepted. “I think I was more anxious to get out of the Army rather than join the Police Force,” he added. Mr. Sharpe wished all the officers success in their Police careers.

Those graduating in addition to the top recruit were:

P.c. O. J. Bain, P.c. D. A. Victor, P.c. R.D. Paynter, P.c. A. P. Cato, P.c. N. B.Boyd, P.c.N. Deleon, P.c. J. Dumont, P.c. G. P. Henry, P.c. W. A. Mclean, P.c. W. R. Richards, P.c. T. G. P. Cabral, P.c. D. J. Furbert, W.P.c. M. A. C. Bean. W.P.c. A. A. Ford and P.c. V. P. Fox.

EDITORS NOTE -  We have a column here on our ExPo website containing photos of the majority of our Basic Training Courses including this one of Basic Training Course #12.  We are in the process of adding the more recent training school photos. Unfortunately,  Training School almost never had photos taken of Localisation Courses for recruits who had previous police experience although there are a few exceptions.  CLICK HERE to view our portfolio of Training School photos.

We held our annual ExPo BBQ at the Police Recreation Club on Saturday 22^nd July 2023, with no thanks to the weather! Unfortunately, we endured very heavy rain during the day so our event had to be moved into the Main Hall of the PRC.

ExPo President Cal Smith with Lisa Rivas

Larry Smith and Carlton Adams

Standing - Gail Correia

The event was well attended but without some of our regular attendees, a few of whom were on summer vacation, which seemed to include a few taking holidays on cruise ships! We should start an ExPo blog where our cruise ship ‘experts’ can pass on advice and critiques for the benefit of those who have yet to take the plunge! 

Lita Kendall, Barbara McCreight and Nadine Henagulph

Those in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the evening, the food, and the camaraderie.  Sadly, we were missing our good friend and very long-term member of our ExPo Committee, Reese Bartley, who had been assisting in organizing our social functions for many years.  It was good to see that Reese’s wife Gilda was in attendance and we hope to see her for many more.

Also in attendance from abroad was our good friend, and cricketer, Adrian King, who had served in the BPS for 5 years from 1978 -  1983.  Adrian will long be remembered as an outstanding cricketer who played for our Police team, in Cup Match for St. George’s, and for Bermuda in the ICC Trophy in 1982.

Young P.C. Adrian King

Adrian had previously played for the Windward Islands in the West Indies, and one of the highlights of his career was playing against the touring Australians in 1978, just before he came to Bermuda, when he took a ten-wicket haul of 6 for 50 in the first innings, and 4 for 34 in the 2^nd innings.  

Why mention this in our report on our BBQ?  Well, we were sitting around with a group of ardent cricket fans including Roger Marshall, Othneal Haynes and Frank Dublin discussing the state of cricket these days, especially in the West Indies where their team used to dominate world cricket. 

Someone mentioned how much better paid cricketers are these days, and Adrian recalled that when he played against the Australians his pay for the match – was zero - and the most he was ever paid for playing international cricket was $80!  By contrast, Ben Stokes, the highest paid cricketer this year, is paid over $18,000 per test match (of course it's chicken feed compared with football players!)

CLICK HERE for an excellent article on “Cup Match legends: Adrian King” published in the Royal Gazette.

During his address at the BBQ  ExPo President, Cal Smith asked us for a few moments of silence to remember those of our members who passed away during this past year.  He advised that this year's Police Week will commence on Saturday 30th September with the Gymkhana being held at the Police Sports Field.  The Annual Memorial Service is scheduled from 4pm-5pm at the Police Cemetery at Prospect, followed by a Reception at the Police Recreation Club hosted by Commissioner Darrin Simons.    

CLICK HERE for our Photo Gallery for this event.  Just scroll down to ExPo BBQ 2023 and click on it.