The United Bermuda Party has backed the idea of a joint select committee on crime, as proposed by Government backbencher Randy Horton.

Mr. Horton was one of several MPs in the House of Assembly who called for solutions to the escalating violence after 24-year-old Dekimo Martin was shot dead early that morning.

The slaying, which was the fifth gun murder of 2010, took place in Mr. Horton's Southampton West constituency.

He told the House on Friday that a cross-party committee would give MPs the opportunity to question experts and develop strategies.

The idea won backing from politicians on both sides of the chamber. And in a joint statement issued yesterday, UBP leader Kim Swan and Shadow Public Safety Minister Michael Dunkley said: "On Friday in the House of Assembly, there appeared to be budding recognition that the Island needs to pool its resources to address the crime situation. Members of Parliament from both sides of the House touched on the need for joint deliberation and joint action.

"And why not? Why not signal to the community that the political leaders of Bermuda are joined in purpose for solutions to this perplexing challenge of gang-related violent crime.

"To set the table, we are in favour of a joint select committee from both the House and the Senate. We want it to be a forum to receive and consider all good ideas, including our own proposal for Operation Ceasefire, which brings to bear on gangs the strong arm of the Police and the compelling and compassionate force of community support."

The pair also expanded on comments made by Mr. Swan in the House on Friday about a peace summit, where community-based organisations such as Rise Above and the churches could put forward their ideas and views.

They said: "This is an opportunity to break the partisan divide, to join hands, and show Bermuda that its political leaders can work together to solve big problems."

Premier Ewart Brown told the House on Friday: "I agree with him [Mr. Swan] that the churches of Bermuda must unite around issues other than the single issue that seemed to bring them together most recently."

The statement from Mr. Swan and Sen. Dunkley said both politicians were "seriously concerned that many Bermudians, when they heard about Friday's shooting murder, took note and went about their business".

"On the surface that is what one expects people to do because they have lives to live and they must get on with things. But we suspect that the shock of what is happening on our streets is no longer shocking to the community. People are getting used to it. Shootings are becoming part of our way of life and the culture of safety that has always prevailed in this country, the culture that made Bermuda a better place to live and raise families, is beginning to disappear.

"We have to fight what we perceive as a creeping sense of resignation about the crime situation. We have to fight it because our future depends on it."

The joint statement said the UBP appreciated that Police were working hard to get a grip on the situation, but it added "nothing has changed on the streets. Gangs are flourishing and the shootings continue" and partisan politics is preventing good ideas being considered.

"There is no better opportunity to find this better way of conducting the people's business than today's terrible crime situation, which we believe is the most serious threat to Bermuda's way of life since the Second World War."