A team set up to provide immediate help to people affected by violent crime represented the best of Bermuda, the national security minister said today.

Wayne Caines described the co-ordinated Crisis Response Team as a “testament to the spirit of love and community that we have”.

Mr Caines added that the team’s efforts to date had been “genuinely felt” within the community.

He said: “In tense and trying conditions they provide crisis counselling to residents who witness these tragic events.”

The team is deployed after violent incidents to provide support for people and communities in affected areas.

The crisis response group operates under the Inter-Agency Community Response, led by Pastor Leroy Bean, the island’s gang violence reduction co-ordinator.

Mr Bean said the CRT was “there to form a support group system for those that are suffering.”

The team was deployed following the island’s most recent killing.

Morlan Steede, 30, was fatally shot on One Way Deepdale last month.

Mr Caines said children in the area “were telling us that they did not want to live. They were shaking, they were crying, they were inconsolable.”

But he added that CRT members began to sing and play with the children.

Mr Caines added: “Immediately you saw the atmosphere with the kids change.”

Counselling services were offered by team members at Evening Light Pentecostal Church and door-to-door visits were also made.

Mr Caines said that the model for the CRT was “tried and true” and had been used overseas.

He added that special training was required for all team members.

Mr Caines said: “Everyone will go through a training programme. It has different levels.”

The group has been active for four months, but Mr Caines said that it had assisted behind the scenes for more than a year.

Mr Caines added the team focused on violent crime, but their skills served multiple purposes.

He explained: “We are the Ministry of National Security. We have the responsibility for any natural disaster.

“It is my view that if there was a national disaster of any proportion, I see this team being the team to hit the ground to help people, to triage the situation, to get everything under control.”