Court Street businesses have urged police to tackle the area’s chronic antisocial behaviour problems after a man was shot in an altercation last week.

At about 9.30pm last Thursday, hours after Hurricane Nicole hit Bermuda, a lone gunman approached a group of people on the Hamilton street and shot a man, who was taken to hospital with superficial injuries to his arm.

“Since the shooting, some people don’t even want to open up their shops,” said Sherika Bell, a clerk at Ramp fashion store.

“I get worried when I’m in the shop by myself. You never know what’s going to happen around here. Some people don’t come any farther than the stop lights, and I don’t blame them.

“People don’t come here to shop, they come here to get drugs, drink and roam the streets.”

Describing business as “very slow”, Ms Bell urged the Bermuda Police Service to increase its supply of officers to the area.

“The police need to have a better presence here,” she said.

“I see officers driving around, but we need to see them on foot — then the same people who sit out on the street every day would scatter.”

A Court Street entrepreneur, who asked not to be named, said that a lack of police action had negatively impacted the neighbourhood.

“There are guys selling drugs on the street out here all day, and they’re the ones who become the targets of the violence. It’s all intertwined,” he said.

“The police need to deal with the little things, that would help to alleviate the problem. They don’t do anything though, and it vexes my soul.”

The entrepreneur said that a police presence on the street was sorely lacking and wholly needed.

“Sometimes you see officers walking by for a second. It’s nice but it’s not enough,” he said.

“They need to man the area, then they can get a better handle on things.”

Steve Simons, managing director of The Spinning Wheel nightclub, criticised the BPS for its “anonymous” presence on the street, despite Hamilton Police Station being just a stone’s throw away.

“There’s a consensus that if we had more visibility, we’d have fewer problems here. They put the CCTV cameras up, but we don’t know who’s watching them,” he said.

“From when it gets dark to when it gets light, police need to be visible — and not just when ignorant people are hurting themselves or each other. You do something before that happens.

“We don’t want this to be an antisocial area that people don’t want to visit. We want to be able to sell, and to have foreigners come and enjoy our culture.

“But if you allow a sore to fester, it’s going to get infected and get worse.”

Acting Deputy Commissioner Martin Weekes said that the BPS welcomed calls from business owners and members of the public in problematic areas “with a view to changing the environment that allows crime to happen”.

He added that police were working closely with the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation, Family Centre and the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation to improve North Hamilton.

“The BPS takes a measured approach to deploying our limited resources to the areas where the most crime is occurring, or where the most dangerous crimes are occurring,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Weekes said. “Many neighbourhoods would like to see more officers on patrol all the time, but we can’t be everywhere at the same time.”