The Regiment, Police and Fire Service came in for praise from politicians on both sides of the Senate during a continuing discussion on the 2006 budget allocation.

The Regiment has seen its budget increase four percent to $5.9 million, said Senator Larry Mussenden as he explained the role of the military in Bermuda.

He said that in 2005, 75 percent of the young men required to sign up at recruitment camp had done so and this represented a 50 percent improvement on the previous year. ?As you can imagine, not every Bermudian male over 18 runs up to Warwick Camp to sign up,? he said.

He gave details of a number of exercises and roles the Regiment had undertaken in the past year, including its first overseas inspection in ten years by a five-strong team from the British military, and its training exercise in Jamaica this month.

Four candidates for high-ranking officer roles will be enrolled at the Sandhurst Military Academy in the UK this year.

Moving on to the Police service, Sen. Mussenden said the budget here had been increased seven percent to $53.9 million, and he ran through some of the crime statistics of the past year, which showed that for every 1,000 people on the Island there were 83.3 crimes reported, 19.2 burglaries and 36.2 theft of motorised bikes.

In crimes of violence, break-ins and stealing there has been a 12 percent increase in reports in the past year.

Gang-related activity was an area of concern and has been linked to a jump of 40 percent in reported robberies. Sen. Mussenden said this was one of the reasons why $335,000 has been set aside for an anti-gang initiative during the coming year.

He said the success of the Police in apprehending the killers of the Cooper twins had restored faith in the Police force and the introduction of tough new laws relating to possession of bladed and pointed weapons had resulted in arrests for this offence dropping significantly.

Sen. Mussenden said the Bermuda Fire Service budget was increasing by six percent to $9.5 million, noting the hiring of overseas consultants and the introduction of a computerised dispatch system.

United Bermuda Party Sen. Gina Spence-Farmer said she was encouraged to hear about the extra money for the Regiment and said it played an important role in developing Bermuda?s young men in a positive way.

The Regiment offered benefits even for those with limited skill sets, said Sen. Spence-Farmer who added: ?I?m sure we would all agree we would like to see our young men in that area rather than the prisons.?

Speaking about the Police service she said: ?A lot of times the Police get a bad rap and are looked on as the bad guys by a lot of our young people ? until they need their help.?

The Police mission statement, which includes the wording ?Because we care?, was a message the senator believed should be pushed more to encourage young people to consider a career within the Police force.

Sen. Spence-Farmer agreed it was important that the Police have a new purpose-built station to enhance the pride in being Police officers. And she praised the senior officers who had attended a town-hall meeting where they had spoken to the public about issues such as how they had dealt with last year?s Wellington Oval disturbance and subsequent trial.

?Those officers spoke on a personal level to address the crowd and even took some of the audience?s solutions and intended to come back again in a few months to speak again. I think that type of policing works best. You could approach and talk to those officers,? she said.

And she agreed there needs to be higher ethical standards for the Police service and backed the notion of an independent Police Complaints Authority to investigate complaints of corruption and inappropriate behaviour.

Likewise she felt the Fire Department?s important role in serving the community was rightly reflected by its increased budget allocation.