Police have identified the main perpetrators behind the gang violence that has torn Bermuda apart — but they can't arrest them because witnesses are refusing to come forward.

New Commissioner Michael DeSilva is dreading the possibility the gunmen could shoot again before Police have built a strong enough case to put them behind bars.

Mr. DeSilva said Police are gathering good forensic evidence on the criminals, but that to win a conviction they also need verbal testimony from witnesses.

He urged people with information to break their silence, reminding them: "You can't demand public safety but not get involved."

Talking to The Royal Gazette in the aftermath of three fatal shootings in 12 days, Mr. DeSilva said: "Our focus is on the gang members who are presenting the greatest threat to the community by fuelling the greatest vindictive nature of some of these attacks.

"We believe we know who the shooters are and we believe we know who the organisers are. Our energy will be focused on catching and convicting."

He said the shootings had been carried out by a combination of hard-core gang members and younger men eager to make an impression.

Explaining why they aren't in prison, Mr. DeSilva said: "We can't arrest someone unless we have grounds to arrest them. We can't charge them without evidence to charge them."

Asked whether any of the offenders would shoot again, he replied: "That would be my absolute fear. We are aware of the culprits but have a lack of available evidence. There are people who know what happened who are not putting themselves forward to say that in court. There's very little that we can do. It's the one-arm-tied-behind-your-back syndrome."

Police have recorded 70 firearm incidents this year, including 17 shootings since May.

Mr. DeSilva said officers have 50 eyewitnesses from the double shooting at Southside cinema last month, but all are refusing to speak, while the Shane Minors fatal shooting last Thursday was not reported until five hours after it happened.

"We can put patrols on the ground 24 hours a day. We can't lock the country down and protect every house on every street," he said.

"We need to catch and convict the killers and take them out of the equation by getting them in prison."

He said if people don't help Police get on top of gang trouble, Bermuda could head the same way as the troubled Los Angeles community he has studied.

"They were where we are now, in the 1970s," he said. "It started out with different neighbourhoods banding together, then drugs came on the scene and it became all about turf.

"There was aggression, with groups trying to dominate, first with fisticuffs, then with baseball bats, then people would carry knives.

"Then guns came in and eventually everybody has to carry a gun.

"My concern is if you follow the case study of Los Angeles, all the gang violence was aimed at each other just like in Bermuda right now.

"But the frequency of violence got to the point where the odds were against them and eventually the unthinkable thing happened: an innocent college student got caught in the crossfire.

"It went haywire. The Police came under pressure to stop this trend, they had more armed Police with heavier weapons.

"For a short term, it was effective; everybody went underground. But if you run that for too long you become the victim of your own success. People were asking: 'Why am I being harassed by Police all the time?'"