Bermuda is now the third most heavily Policed country in the world according to statistics unearthed by The Royal Gazette.

A 24 percent rise in manpower in just ten years means there are now 29 Police and support staff for every square mile of Bermuda territory.

But pundits and former Police officers are now questioning whether the Island gets value for money for the $60.5 million annual bill because crime is still rising and shootings have become commonplace.

The Bermuda Police Service has a budget for 477 officers a rise of 155 officers in ten years, now supported by 136 civilian staff, making a total of 613 people.

In 1999 the Bermuda Police strength stood at 408 officers, supported by 86 civilians a total of 494 people in an annual budget $41 million.

The rise means there is now one Police officer for every 142 people in a population of around 68,000.

Former Police Commissioner Colin Coxall said: "I find it quite extraordinary that a relatively small island should require such high levels of policing to maintain law and order. This must be one of the highest ratios of Police officers to square miles in the world.

"One has to ask the question, with that level of policing are the officers being deployed in the most effective way possible?"

Certainly the new Police leadership says it's now taking measures to address this.

New Commissioner Michael DeSilva has promised to take Bermuda back "one street at a time" and he pledged to put every officer available on the streets over the coming weeks.

But the question is how the streets were lost in the first place.

Speaking before Mr. DeSilva took over, United Bermuda Party deputy leader Trevor Moniz said constituents had continually complained about the lack of Police response and many people didn't bother reporting crime because they had lost faith.

"They don't think Police are interested or do anything," he said.

But he added it would be wrong to solely blame the Police for the crime surge as there were failings throughout the justice system.

"Our system doesn't work and people lose confidence, they ask what is the point? Police aren't going to arrest anyone, but if they do the criminal won't be prosecuted and even if he is he will get off."

Crime is the biggest fear among Bermuda's residents according to recent polls, particularly among seniors with 41 percent listing it as their largest worry.

That fear is understandable with violent crime now far more visible. As well as deadly gun violence there have been violent clashes at Cup Match and football games. Gang warfare is now running wild with four people shot dead since May.

The most current crime figures showed crimes against people a category that includes serious offences such as murder, manslaughter and serious assaults are up 21 percent compared to the same period time last year.

Yet Bermuda's Police to population ratio is nearly three times that of the UK and now is the third highest in the world.

Bermuda has 7.01 Police officers for every 1,000 people, just behind Montserrat at 7.81 per 1,000 of population and Mauritius at 7.24.

And Bermuda's policing strength is way ahead of other small wealthy islands.

For example the Isle of Wight Police force, just off the south coast of England, covers an area of more than 146 square miles and a population of more than 129,000 with 208 police officers and 77 backroom staff a fraction of the Bermuda total.

The English Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey also make interesting comparisons.

Guernsey, which has a 65,000 population spread over 24 square miles, has 177 police and 37 civilian backroom staff, comprising 214 in total about one third of Bermuda's total.

And yet crime dropped 12 percent in 2008 with 2,648 incidents compared to 3,024 the year before. In comparison Bermuda Police recorded 2,918 crimes last year.

Jersey has 240 Police officers serving 90,000 islanders over 45 square miles, costing the Jersey taxpayer $36 million just over half of the Bermuda bill. That force had to deal with 4,802 crimes last year.

Closer to home, the Cayman Islands has 343 Police and auxiliary officers and 64 support staff covering 101 square miles of land spread over three islands dealing with 2,501 crimes in 2008 in a population of around 50,000.

Yet the Caymans force is getting results. Comparing 2008 to 2007, total crime fell by 22 per cent or 697 offences and serious crime has fallen by 14 per cent. And it wasn't a one off.

Crime in the Caymans has fallen steadily from 2,922 total offences in 2005 to 2,452 offences in 2008 although attempted murders and murders have risen significantly recently.

Mr. Moniz said comparisons with Police manpower on other islands weren't fair as Bermuda has an enormous drug problem, which fuelled the violence.

"If you looked at Guernsey and asked 'do they have half a dozen unsolved murders' I think the answer would be 'no'."

Asked if Bermuda was getting value for money for the Police manpower it had he said: "I think all along the line we have major problems in Police, in the judicial system with prosecutions and juries and we have major problems in the way the prison is run people are dying up there. Nothing is working as it should."

Mr. Moniz said when it suited, the PLP passed tough laws like the three-year mandatory sentences for bladed weapons possession.

"Then they don't enforce them. When Government can't enforce a law it makes the law more and more draconian, thinking it will frighten people into obeying the law.

"But if criminals know you can't enforce it they don't care how draconian it is because they think their chances of being caught are zero.

"If you get tough you have to get tough at each step in the system, if people don't bother to arrest anyone for it what difference does a draconian law make, if judges and prosecutors ignore it?"

Juries were weak too, said Mr. Moniz.

And he has no hope things will get better under the PLP, but he admitted his own United Bermuda Party had made all sorts of mistakes with law and order in Government.

"We let the Police station and courts run down."

Criminals needed to be harassed, argued Mr. Moniz.

"I believe in community policing, Police need to see the problems the community is facing and nip them in the bud know what the problems are without people having to come to Police and report a crime.

"Once criminals get really confident that's when you get serious stuff going down. You have to break them up and move them on and keep it manageable.

"Otherwise they are the bosses and they run up and down the street shooting each other."

One former mid-ranking Bermuda Police officer said of the high Policing numbers: "There are so many Policeman for the size of the area, it is absolutely ridiculous.

"And it's all kid gloves nowadays, good pro-active Policing is not done anymore. They say it's intelligence-led but I very much doubt that."

And the former officer said there had been a lot of window dressing in the Police ranks in recent years. "They keep changing the names of departments so they are not recognised as failing in the past."

But he said the public didn't help matters by peppering Police with silly requests. "You get calls in the middle of the night from people wanting help moving a bed."

Prison Officers Association chairman Craig Clarke said: "I would say the way Police handle crime is not suitable, they need to pool their resources.

"They have to start walking the beats in some of the trouble spots. It makes no sense Policing from a distance when you know where the trouble spots are. But instead they take a drive through."

Typically he said Police had stepped up their presence after a shooting and then faded away again. "Away they go, right back from where they came from."

But he readily concedes Police suffer from a lack of community help.

"Crimes are committed and everyone stays silent. That hinders Police because they can't be everywhere in this country. Citizens have to recognise they have a role in taking back their country."

Mr. Clarke said he understood the public fears of speaking up and having no way to escape retribution in such a small island.

But he said the problems of remote Policing and a lack of trust from the community were intertwined.

"If Police want more information they need to get around the trouble spots in Bermuda to build relationships.

"Let Police walk around, get familiar with the kids growing up.

"It's a presence, people start to feel comfortable with someone they know. They have more than enough Police to cover those areas."

The public also needed to mature politically and turf out politicians and parties not capable of doing their jobs, believes Mr. Clarke.

"The two-party, Westminster system is killing the country. We need people to get into Government who aren't self serving.

"Corrections has become a political football, instead of people saying let's sit down and find the solutions together.

"People of this Country need role models, they want to see their Premier in the streets and holding rallies, they want to see people out there, trying to make things better."