Police start crackdown on crime
By Elizabeth Roberts and Mikaela Ian Pearman
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On the road with Operation Safer Streets
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Photo Glenn Tucker
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Respect for all the lawsPolice officers from Operation Safer Streets make an arrest outside Devonshire Recreation Club when they found a man with a warrant out for unpaid fines.
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Photo Glenn Tucker
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Seized: Police found a stash of crack cocaine and cannabis near the Palmetto Road gate to Devonshire Recreation Club.
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Photo Glenn Tucker
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Police will mount a zero-tolerance crackdown on crime until Bermuda returns to normality after the Christmas shootings.
That was the message from senior officers as they revealed details of Operation Safer Streets — a bid to restore public confidence after the violence.
Since January 5, dozens of officers have been rolling through the streets in convoys of vehicles, day and night. They are backed up by dog handlers and a 24-hour roster of armed officers. Anyone acting suspiciously is being stopped and searched, with vehicles also subjected to random checks.
The move is a direct response to the violence that unfolded in the early hours of Christmas Day when Jakai Harford, 24, was shot in the shoulder in the Camp Hill area of Southampton. Around 9 p.m. on Boxing Day Aquil Richardson, 30, was murdered and Levar Smith, 25, shot in the legs — again in Camp Hill.
Few details about the shootings have been made public by the Police. They have made several arrests but are yet to charge anyone.
Superintendent Michael Jackman acknowledged the attacks have left ordinary Bermudians badly shaken. He hopes the "take back the streets" campaign will break the silence within the community and crack the crimes.
"We want to reassure the public, decrease their fear right now and also increase the confidence that they have in the Police. We want them to know that we are responding effectively and doing something to address the firearms and return the Island to normalcy. We want to ensure that these shootings don't become the norm," he told The Royal Gazette.
Supt. Jackman, Divisional Commander for Community Policing, stressed the operation is more than a short-term publicity stunt.
"The bad guys will say we won't sustain it. We know we will have to sustain this robust policing over a long period of time. The behaviour will change, there will be less fear of crime, confidence will increase and we will start getting more cooperation from the public," he said.
"We want a change in behaviour and we're committed to doing this for as long as it takes. It's about getting public confidence so we can get more information about murders and drug dealing coming in to us from being out there and having contact with the public."
Speaking at a news conference at the Police Headquarters in Prospect, Supt. Jackman said as a result of the holiday murder and shootings, they needed to come up with a new way to Police the Island. He explained the officers in the operation will have high-visibility placing and they plan to organise their resources to sustain this robust approach.
Supt. Jackman said a big part of it is to gather information and intelligence from the community regarding many of the unsolved cases.
He said the team plans to target known troubled areas, people with warrants and also people with outstanding fines.
Police Commissioner George Jackson explained the Service is sending out a message to the community that persons who insist on living an anti-social lifestyle will be targeted through enforcement of offences such as drug, weapons and violence.
"We want to communicate to our community that there is a common mistaken belief as long as I am not committing a violent crime or dealing drugs, I should be left alone.
"In order to enforce the law all offences must be challenged as it sets a standard for what should be expected of all our citizens."
"This includes running a stop light, having illegal tint, having invalid proof of licence and insurance and having outstanding warrants for a civil or criminal matter."
Supt. Jackman also explained that because a new pattern in crime has arisen, they have to police according that pattern.
"It is the right time to try a more robust style of policing. We want to bring back that respect for the law and order right back. Once they see us doing something, that confidence in the Police will come back."
