the thumbs up by Police Commissioner Mr. Lenny Edwards.

Mr. Edwards said the Massachusetts town of Quincy's programme, which takes the responsibility of pressing charges out of the victim's hands, would impact on the Bermuda Police Force most if adopted here, but it had his full support.

It also won the approval of the Health and Social Services Minister. The Hon.

Quinton Edness said Government "was prepared to take the lead'' in adopting the system, which has become a national model in America.

"It makes violence against women unacceptable,'' said Mr. Edness. "There is too much of this battering going on in this community -- and for too long.'' He added he was in favour of the word domestic no longer being used to describe violence in the home. "Domestic relegates the seriousness of abuse,'' he said.

Mr. Edwards admitted there had been "some pretty bad beatings'' involving women lately.

He believed that sending all domestic violence cases to court, regardless of whether the woman pressed charges, would go a long way towards tackling the problem.

Police were trained in dealing with domestic disputes and he felt their response to such cases was adequate.

"Officers have always been taught to take domestic violence seriously and we have always known that such disputes can flare up into capital crimes where murder is perpetrated,'' he said.

However, Mr. Edwards said, it was frustrating being called to the same house on several occasions only for the woman to say she did not want to press charges.

"They (Police) would like to know they have more teeth in dealing with such cases,'' he said.

Mr. Edwards added he would also support the Quincy system of giving more extensive training to officers in dealing with domestic violence.

But he noted the Police Community Department was already overburdened. It was his opinion that the summer heat led a lot of men to attacking their girlfriends or wives. But the recession "had taken its toll'', producing more "hot-tempered and angry'' males.

Mr. Edwards was also concerned about the number of cases of female violence on females.

Mr. Edness pointed out that implementing the Quincy model would require a lot of thought and pooling of resources by the women's watchdog groups who are fighting for it.

He added it could also require sending Ministry officials to Quincy for hands-on experience.

The Opposition has also backed the programme, applauding the Women's Advisory Council and Women's Resource Centre for presenting it to Government and the Police.

The Royal Gazette learned of the Quincy programme last week following a spate of domestic attacks on women which sparked warnings that violence in the home was on the rise and getting nastier.