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There is, of course, an almost irresistible urge to jump up and do something.

Since last weekend's gun violence - which left one man dead and four others injured - there have been plenty of suggestions.

Among those that have received publicity are demands to:

• Increase police patrols;

• Create police SWAT units;

• Write new laws;

• Rewrite old laws;

• Import foreign experts;

• Increase penalties;

• Make gang membership illegal;

• Raise our children better;

• Impose harsher penalties for drugs;

• Decriminalize drugs

• Arm our police.

It's obvious that we need to clamp down on... well, on something. We really don't know what.

Some of the things people want are at odds with each other: Cracking down on drugs, for example, versus trying to take the profits out of the drug trade by decriminalizing drugs.

Even things that seem straightforward no-brainers are rarely so simple.

Like adding more community police patrols. Where do we find these extra officers? Do we take them away from investigations?

If we hire more police, where do we get the money? Do we take it away from education? Or social services? Job training? Prisons?

If we ban gangs, how do we define a gang?

Some states (for example, North Carolina) passed anti-gang laws at the end of last year, that among other things, banned gang membership, and made it a crime to recruit gang members or punish anyone attempting to leave a gang.

If we're not careful, we'd end up banning all kinds of well-structured organizations that recruit, and have symbols, from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to the Progressive Labour Party.

Besides, making something illegal and imposing harsh penalties doesn't make people stop doing it.

It is obvious, but worth reminding people, that it is already illegal in Bermuda to carry guns and ammunition, to commit murder, and shoot three people in a variety store.

Harsher penalties, of course, are psychologically satisfying to a lot of people. But there is plenty of research (the Justice Policy Institute in the U.S. has compiled a lot of it) indicating that harsh suppression techniques do nothing to reduce violence and can actually foster an increase in gang cohesion.

Empty theatre

So pity the leaders of our country - the Police Commissioner, the Premier, the Governor, the Minister of Public Safety - who face huge pressure to act immediately but know that a lot of what they will end up doing is empty theatre to placate an anxious public.

The real solutions - as they so often are -- are surely the undramatic ones, that are implemented or fostered without fanfare, and produce subtle results over long periods of time.

Much of it is stuff we are, theoretically, working on already. Almost all of it is stuff that we already know we should be doing.

This includes creating and maintaining a more efficient criminal justice system, with fully staffed high quality, experienced police. It includes the ability to investigate crimes, gather evidence and successfully prosecute and convict criminals.

Because the knowledge that you will in fact be caught, prosecuted and punished is far more effective than the length of the sentence itself.

It involves effective rehabilitation programmes in the prison system.It includes successful reform of the public education system - which is a fundamental part in reducing the percentage of Bermudians who are excluded from the legitimate "real world" economy and community of Bermuda.

It includes economic changes that make housing more affordable to more people, which can not only help strengthen families but reduce the percentage of Bermudians who feel like outcasts from their own country.

If people can spend more time raising children, and less time having to make money, society is bound to be better off.

It includes a lot of basic "good government" stuff, too.

This means avoiding waste and frivolous spending, for example, so that more money is available for policing, prison improvements and social programmes, for example.

It means openness and inclusion, too, in word and in action, so that more people feel a part of their own country and important to their own community.

The shock of last weekend's shootings should spur us to action.But that action should be to build a better, stronger, happier, friendlier, closer, fairer and more inclusive society.

If we're going to get tough, in other words, we should start by getting tough on ourselves.[[In-content Ad]]

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