Laws banning gang membership win expert support

Premier Paula Cox promised legislation to tackle the violence in a televised address.

Similar laws have proved useless in some countries but effective in others.

In the Cayman Islands, the government amended the penal code in 2005 to deal with a gang problem — but the legislation has never been used.

Brent Fuller, crime reporter at the Caymanian Compass newspaper, said laws outlawing gang membership had proved too difficult to enforce.

Shootings

He added: “It’s a very difficult thing to prove.”

But he said gun crime had dropped dramatically this year, with no shootings in the Caymans.

He believes this is not due to the extra powers but the arrest of several men who allegedly imported guns, combined with the violent deaths or arrests of about 15 men suspected of gang involvement.

Mr Fuller said: “In a place as small as this, like Bermuda, it doesn’t take many to cause trouble.”

Premier Cox said on Thursday that “the full weight of the partnership between the legislature and the Bermuda Police Service will be brought to bear on a problem that threatens to undermine the spirit of Bermuda and Bermudians”.

She added: “Cabinet will shortly consider legislation making gang membership an offence.

“We will broaden the scope of proceeds of crime laws and consider incentives to encourage information on the location and ownership of guns.”

In Cayman, gang membership was made punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a fine of 500,000 Caymanian dollars — about US$610,000. Gang membership is described as “any group, association or other body consisting of three or more persons, whether formally or informally organized” and involved in committing indictable or drug offences.

Possession of a bulletproof vest or gun associated with gang activity became punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 Caymanian dollars — about US$122,000.

The legislation said gang membership could be proved in court by similar tattoos or body markings, similar style of dress or the use of similar “symbols, signs, codes or mannerisms as a means of identifying themselves with the group, association or other body”.

A Cayman government spokesperson said: “This time last year, the police did explore the possibility of using the legislation but it is very difficult to prove.”

In Australia, several states have passed anti-gang legislation, designed to tackle biker gangs involved in the drugs trade and serious violence.

New South Wales rushed through an anti-gang law in 2009 after a biker gang chief was beaten to death at Sydney airport. The legislation allows the courts to declare a gang as a criminal organization.

Police can seek control orders against members, preventing them from associating with other members of the gang who are subject to a control order.

People who break the orders can be jailed for up to two years for a first offence and five years for a second offence.

Legislation introduced later also made it an offence to recruit anyone to a controlled organisation.

But the laws — challenged in the High Court — were criticised by the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery.

He called it “draconian” and “a giant leap backwards for human rights”.

Bermuda Police declined to comment on the plans for anti-gang legislation.

Mark Pettingill, former Crown Counsel and an MP for the Bermuda Democratic Alliance, said anti-gang legislation could work here.

He added that he had tabled a bill in the House of Assembly late last year designed to tackle gangs.

Deterrent

Mr Pettingill said: “It you commit a felony and you’re a member of an organised gang or organised crime, you become liable to an additional sentence.

 “If people are aware of potential liability, it may have a deterrent effect.”

Lawyer Rod Attride-Stirling, former chairman of the Human Rights Commission, said: “If other jurisdictions have introduced anti-gang legislation and it has worked, we should try it. If it hasn’t worked, we should know where it has gone wrong.

“Any new legislation should be sure to conform to the constitutional protection and human rights protection we all enjoy.”

Pastor Leroy Bean of gang intervention group Cartel said anti-gang legislation in other areas had been ineffective.