That Bermuda's gun crime and murders are growing at an exponential rate is news to no one on the Island.

In 2005 there were 13 gun incidents; four years later there were 42. Just four months into 2010, that total has already been exceeded with 43 incidents to date.

Ways to address the problem have come fast and furious.

The Police, politicians, community leaders, pastors and others have all offered ideas, implemented new measures and discusssed why youth violence has soared.

Despite all this the shootings have continued and witnesses remain silent. No one has been charged for any of the 12 murders since May, 2009. In the last 12 months, 21 people have been shot but survived their injuries, only four people have been charged in connection with any of those shootings.

The United Bermuda Party has proposed a programme which has seen success across many large and small cities in the US. The Opposition believes Bermuda could benefit from Operation Ceasefire in that it would bring all of the Island's players together for a coordinated collaborative approach to tackling the issues.

David Kennedy, who helped found the programme in Boston, also believes that Bermuda is heading in the right direction but needs to focus on a combined strategy.

He said: "Our consistent experience is that most jurisdictions have the resources — law enforcement, social services, and community — necessary to stop or greatly reduce this kind of violence, but that without a common strategy; close coordination; and direct, sustained communication with violent groups, those resources don't produce the results that such an approach will."

Operation Ceasefire began in Boston after the number of youth homicides jumped from 22 in 1987 to 73 in 1990. With the help of Mr. Kennedy, who was then a senior researcher at the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard University, the Boston Police Department worked with social services and a coalition of black clergy to reduce gun crime.

A US Department of Justice-sponsored evaluation of the Boston programme found that it was responsible for a 63 percent decrease in youth homicides and a 32 percent decrease in the number of firearms shot.

Since then it has been introduced in many jurisdictions and Mr. Kennedy, who is now the director of National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) in New York, said its success relies on direct communication with violent groups by a partnership of law enforcement, service providers, and community figures.

In many of the cities that adopted the programme there was a common theme gangs or groups, who knew one another were perpetrating the violence among young men. Regular citizens were rarely targeted but the increasing level of homicides caused concern and fear across the community.

This hardened group of criminals caused a disproportionate amount of serious crime. One of the first steps of Operation Ceasefire involves identifying these people, something the BPS say they have already done by classifying them as prolific priority offenders.

The next step is to meet with them and give them an ultimatum: stop the shooting or the consequences will be swift and severe not just for the shooters but everyone in the gang. Currently the BPS has gone through intermediaries, such as community group Youth on the Move, to communicate with the gangs but has yet to sit down for face-to-face talks.

"The strategy has three key elements that address what really drives violence on the street, including the dynamics between and within groups," Mr. Kennedy said. "One, it communicates to groups the community's strong desire that the violence stop; that offenders are valued and the community wants them to succeed.

"Two, it offers help to group members who want it. Three, it creates certain and credible consequences for homicide and shootings that are directed at the group as a whole.

"Because groups drive violence, a group focus for legal consequences is far more meaningful than the usual legal attention given to individuals.

"Each element of the strategy is of equal importance. All pieces work together and reinforce one another. The strategy is high-activity but low-enforcement. The work is done by setting and maintaining clear standards, not by large numbers of arrests and crackdowns."

And while Bermuda's problem may be centred on gangs, Mr. Kennedy said Operation Ceasefire does not focus on suppressing gang activity. Instead it aims to work with communities to influence the behaviour of gangs and gang members and to give departments of social services and other community groups the opportunity to help those who wish to turn their back on crime.

But some in Bermuda say the fact that gang culture is glorified on the Island and that young black men have been the victims of centuries of racial inequality means it is unlikely those involved in gangs will turn their backs on their lifestyle.

Mr. Kennedy said he has not found this to be the case: "We now have a very extensive record of work which shows that street crime, street dynamics and offenders are not that different from place to place. Hence it will work in your jurisdiction. If it works in some of the most violent neighbourhoods in Chicago, with homicide rates similar to those in Haiti, it will work anywhere.

"One of the NNSC leadership group chiefs, Tom Streicher in Cincinnatti, likes to tell a story about how the gang member he'd honed in on as the toughest of a very tough group stood up suddenly in Cincinnati's first call-in: and said he was sick of the violence and wanted out. Experience shows that even the most seasoned offenders are often sick and tired of the violence and want it to stop."