said are undermining efforts to revitalise tourism -- and damaging Bermuda's image overseas.

Senator Burgess said recent confidence tricks on taxi drivers and a spate of handbag snatches are sending a negative message to the community and the outside world.

"I've been alarmed by the recent spate of most cowardly attacks on cab drivers,'' he said.

"I hope the people committing the attacks are found, found guilty and that the full gravity of the law comes down on them.

"Failure to come to grips with cold, callous acts of crime doesn't put us in good stead to re-tool, re-tune, re-oil and reinvent tourism as a much needed industry for us to continue to enjoy our standard of life.'' Speaking directly to those committing the crimes, the Senator said: "I beg of you to get out (of crime) and for you to find a more productive way to get by.'' Speaking in the Senate, Mr. Burgess was referring to the recent practice of thieves tricking cab drivers out of their fares.

Robbing the drivers doesn't encourage people to go out and drive taxis in the unsocial and late hours, Bermuda requires them to work, he said. He also said that given the nature of the crime it was probably only a matter of time until the culprits proceeded to even more serious violations of the law and these incidents should not be regarded as minor. "It doesn't take long for a cold, calculating mind to turn to another form of crime,'' he said. "Someone that cold and callous isn't going to stop there.'' Mr. Burgess said it was essential that these criminal energies be re-directed.

And Mr. Burgess expressed similar disdain for those snatching handbags in recent weeks, referring to the negative effects on tourism and society in general.

"It doesn't bode well for us as a people -- and certainly not for the businesses we profess to want to be in, tourism and offshore business,'' he said.

"It makes no sense to rob each other in any way and in particular in that way. It doesn't bode well for the image we want to project. We must once again frown upon these crimes and call on these people to desist from these activities.

Government Senator Calvin Smith took up some of Mr. Burgess's points by saying that people should be careful in how they read the crime statistics recently released by Police.

Police recently reported a 23 percent drop in crime in the last year and that it had fallen 51 percent between 1994 and 2000. But Mr. Smith said that may not suggest less crime, only that more people are getting caught. To truly address crime, he said it must be met at the causal stages. "Once someone has committed a crime, it becomes very difficult to stop them the next time,'' he said.