There is no shortage of rumors in Bermuda about senior police officers who maintain relationships with subordinates. But in the age of social media, hushed whispers become visible, and systems of abuse long tolerated must be called out. What too often is dismissed as “just gossip” is, in fact, a manifestation of deep-rooted power dynamics in a hierarchical structure that resists scrutiny.
The Problem: Power + Access = Risk
When a police officer holds authority rank, access to files, knowledge of internal processes that role becomes fertile ground for exploitation. Subordinates, especially new or junior officers, may be vulnerable due to inexperience, openness to mentorship, trust in the institution, or fear that speaking out will damage their career. The imbalance is clear: one person has power, the other is expected to yield respect and deference. If that dynamic is weaponized, consent becomes murky and exploitation possible.
This is not limited to male female relationships. Across the service, there are examples of same-sex relationships or nontraditional dynamics where rank and role are manipulated. The critical issue is not gender but power.
We also know that misconduct can begin innocently flirtatious messages, conversations off-duty and escalate. A seemingly harmless request for a subordinate’s number, or use of police databases to collect personal data, can lead to coercive or exploitative behavior. In many organizations, these actions have been normalized or overlooked.
Because the culture has long tolerated these dynamics in silence, victims are often disbelieved or blamed. The “blue wall of silence” the informal code among police officers not to report colleagues’ misconduct further isolates whistle-blowers.
In Bermuda, anecdotal accounts of relationships between senior and junior officers have circulated for decades. Some are known in whispered circles; others remain entirely hidden. Too many have been swept under the rug, dismissed as “not our concern,” or ignored.
Power is an intoxicating drug, and without boundaries and accountability, it consumes both the individual and the institution. There must now be clear, enforceable rules that make it absolutely unacceptable for any senior officer or anyone with rank to engage in a relationship, overtly or covertly, with someone under their authority. Any act that uses position or power for personal gain must result in immediate investigation and, where substantiated, termination.
The culture of permissiveness is deeply entrenched. The Police Recreation Club, for decades, has been the setting for countless such encounters a petri dish where power, alcohol, and proximity blur professional boundaries. For many Bermudians, the current revelations are not surprising. They are simply confirmation of what has been whispered for years.
What Must Shift: Culture, Thinking, Enforcement
To address this deeply embedded problem, we need a mindset shift as much as a rules change.
•1 Power is not romance. Rank and authority do not grant relational privileges. Any relationship, consensual or otherwise, that arises in a power-imbalanced environment must be considered suspect and disallowed unless fully transparent and independently reviewed.
•2 No more silence. The insider code that protects misconduct must end. If the force cannot police itself fully, independent oversight must intervene.
•3 Clear and enforceable rules. Vague policies are no protection. Explicit rules must ban supervisory relationships, define disclosure obligations, and ensure discipline is real, not symbolic.
•4 Safe reporting. Victims and witnesses must have routes to raise concerns without fear of retaliation or exposure. Oversight must be external and empowered.
•5 Leadership accountability. The tone is set at the top. Leaders must model integrity and zero tolerance, not wink at behavior they know exists.
When power is misused in policing, the cost is immense: it warps trust, corrupts justice, silences victims, demoralizes good officers, and damages the institution’s legitimacy. It transforms what should be a protector role into an instrument of control and exploitation.
This is not unique to the Bermuda Police Service. It is the reality of many of the disciplined services, as well as within the Bermuda Government itself. We have to address the culture of power and control and how it impacts those who work beneath it.
It is time for us to have this conversation openly, honestly, and transparently about how the abuse of power, in all its forms, continues to harm the people we expect to serve, protect, and lead.
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