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This week we have seen another brutal incident that left a young man dead.

The incident has circumstances that lead us to believe it wasn't an isolated event in that the victim was wearing a flak-vest, the kind of garment one dons to shield against bullets. That he did this in Bermuda, where guns are illegal, says something about an underground culture that should grab our attention and shake it severely.

This is the sixth murder in less than three years, and fits in with a pattern of increasing violence in our community. There are undoubtedly several reasons for the increase, including family dysfunction, the roles of TV and video games as purveyors of real and manufactured violence, the greater social tension that accompanies

increasing population density, and a police service static in size in the face of increasing responsibilities.

Less than model citizens

I believe the underpinnings of law and order have been allowed to stagnate and even deteriorate over the last couple of decades.

Police stations have run down, leadership changes have seemed frequent and not smooth, respect for and confidence in the police

service has diminished, and several in leadership positions have themselves been less than model citizens.

There are also circumstances, some self-inflicted, that have made the job of policing more difficult. Reluctant witnesses and inadequate witness protection, increasing use of weapons, even a raised de facto speed limit and increases in the engine size and power of cars.

So while we attempt to get to grips with education and family life and other social factors, we must do more to curb, detect, arrest,

prosecute, detain and rehabilitate criminals.

Curbing crime has several components. Potential victims need to increase their levels of awareness and vigilance. The young man wearing a flak vest was certainly aware and taking precautions.

Police presence is a factor very much on the public's mind. We have seen the police conduct their attention to traffic one blitz at a

time. The cycle squad, once a trained and dedicated team for policing our roads is rarely visible. The narcotic squad was reportedly

dismantled. The message I hear from police chiefs is these redeployments of police resources is closely related to the size of the police force. In addition to the service being short of its

authorised complement of officers, that number of officers deemed appropriate for the Island has not kept pace with the growing demands for police oversight and action.

We cannot expect the police service to adequately police a population

of 68,000 with the same compliment of officers that was policing 58,000 people twenty years ago. Attending our population increase is an automatic increase in the number of residences, the number of vehicles, the number of sport and recreation facilities and events,

the number of businesses and underlying all, the number of social/business/traffic interactions a proportion of which are bound to be troublesome.

Arrest and investigation and are also police functions that require training and manpower. As the overall crime load increases there must inevitably be staffing increases if performance of these tasks is to keep pace and, preferably, increase in efficiency.

Government leaders are fond of lamenting that they don't have control of police operations. However, they do have responsibility for the size of the service, and whether that size is adequate.

Fears expressed by the PLP, when in opposition, that Bermuda was becoming a police state has perhaps governed their reluctance to expand the

service. Given the additional load, the service needs expanding. I encourage our leaders to reassess their traditional stance and 'make it so.'[[In-content Ad]]

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