The Opposition has proposed a successful US anti-gang scheme to quell rising gun violence in Bermuda.

Yesterday at a press conference Senator Michael Dunkley said Operation Ceasefire had been successful in Boston, Cincinnati and other jurisdictions that enforced it.

The programme is a youth gun violence intervention strategy, first implemented in 1996 in Boston.

According to the US Department of Justice: "The two main elements of Ceasefire were one, a direct attack on illicit firearms traffickers and two, a set of intervention actions that gave gang members a strong deterrent to gun violence. "Police placed strong and targeted enforcement pressure on gang members to discourage gun carrying. The researchers called this strategy "lever pulling" and called efforts to spread the word among gang members about increased enforcement "retailing".

"A key part of the "retailing" was ensuring gang members knew that the police were cracking down because of the violence and that "if this violence does not stop, you are next." Yesterday Sen. Dunkley said the scheme had resulted in a 24 percent decrease in Cincinnati. In the 1990s Boston's youth homicide rate dropped by two-thirds due to Operation Ceasefire.

And while the programme involves some tough on crime initiatives it also worked to help people.

"The flip side of the plan is that if gang members wanted to step away from the violent lifestyle, the Ceasefire working group would help them with services and opportunities to make it happen," he said.

"We think Bermuda may be well-positioned for Operation Ceasefire. Police are well along in their identification of all gangs, gang members and their turf. This is essential information for the programme to get off the ground.

"In addition, Bermuda has a community of social workers, active clergy and community activists who could be enlisted for the helping hand side of the operation."