robberies, break-ins, thefts, and handbag snatches, according to the latest annual report of Bermuda Police.

There were major increases in the number of murders and assaults causing bodily harm, while woundings, assaults on Police and indecent assaults on females dropped significantly, the report says.

"The scourge of drugs and drug abuse continue to be an ever-increasing factor in criminal activity in Bermuda,'' the report says. "In the region of 80 percent of offenders claim that the drug trade, drug addiction, or drug abuse was the root cause of their involvement in crime.'' The report, signed by then Commissioner Mr. Lennett (Lennie) Edwards, says the number of "true'' crimes investigated in 1994 was 5,458, down from 5,867 in 1993.

However, the 1993 figure included 957 offences related to two major fraud cases, while the two largest fraud cases in 1994 involved only 259 cases. When the difference of 698 crimes was deducted from the 1993 figures, "There is an indication that general crime showed an increase of 5.6 percent in 1994 over the previous year.'' Mr. Edwards has resigned due to illness, succeeded by Commissioner Mr. Colin Coxall.

The report also said: The number of cycle thefts doubled last year, to 2,536 from 1,284 in 1993.

Due to the "drastic'' increase, "this area ... is now receiving extra attention in an attempt to regain a satisfactory control of this annoying problem,'' the report said.

There were six murders in 1994, up from three in 1993, while grievous bodily harm increased to 71 from 50 and actual bodily harm to 249 from 133.

Meanwhile, woundings decreased to 44 from 64, assaults on Police to 12 from 30, and indecent assaults on females to 42 from 55.

Robberies soared by 55 percent, break-ins by 42.7 percent, thefts from persons by 75.8 percent, and handbag snatches by 310 percent, while frauds dropped 49.5 percent and shoplifting dropped by 42.6 percent.

The number of road accidents rose by 7.6 percent to 2,842, with fatalities rising to 11 from seven in 1993.

The Police narcotics division seized 366.7 grams of heroin, 2,434 grams of cocaine, 408.1 grams of cocaine freebase, 361.2 kilograms of cannabis, and 543.5 grams of cannabis resin. Drugs officers also seized more than $300,000 in cash. Seizures of heroin and cannabis were up, but cocaine seizures were down sharply.

There was an increase in Police sick days of 1,115 days over 1993, to a total of 4,656. That brought the average number of sick days per member of the force to 10.8, up from 7.9 in 1993.

Despite that, the report says "the health record of the force is generally good.'' Detection or "clear-up'' rates fell to 38.54 percent last year from 40.38 percent in 1993.

"This can no doubt be attributed in large part to increased workloads coinciding with reduced manpower in the Criminal Investigation Department,'' the report says.

There were 36 complaints against Police in 1994, including 15 assault complaints. But none had been substantiated by the end of the year, the report says.

Thirteen of the complaints were withdrawn, three were informal, and 20 were either unsubstantiated or still under investigation, according to the report.