November 9, 2007

I feel the time has come for a Royal Commission to look into the workings of our Police Service. We have had three murders by a firearm over a period of two years, all of which have had the same modus operandi. Not a single one of these crimes has been solved. This proves that there is something drastically wrong with the running of the Police Service. Dangerous driving, speeding on our roads, breaking and entering of homes, assaults on locals and tourists alike and petty crimes are verging on being out of control. In addition traffic laws are simply ignored. Many branches of the Police Service have been disbanded or stripped of staff such as the C.I.D., Cycle Squad, Traffic Squad and others. The Town of St. George's does not even have a Police Service, let alone a station. The City of Hamilton has a very run down police station and there is little police presence in the city, even though there are often as many as ten police vehicles parked outside the station.

The traffic wardens are wasting their time handing out electronic parking tickets when more than 80% of these go unpaid, even though in 2006 the Attorney General, Mr. Philip Perinchief, stated that the wheels were in motion to do something about it. The only thing that has been done is a "Reminder Notice" and this practice has been going on gon for almost 5 years.

The Police Service and the Attorney General's Office are responsible for the law and order that should be for the protection of each and every person living in Bermuda and at present this is seriously lacking. A society cannot function effectively when these two branches of government are in such a dismal state. Perhaps it is time for the removal of Mr. Jackson as Commissioner of Police and Mr. Perinchief as Attorney General and the replacement of these individuals with people who will actually do something about the lawlessness on our roads, on our streets, in our towns and in our homes.

A FORMER

POLICE OFFICER

Paget