checking cyclists. Somehow it was reassuring to see the Coxall strategy at work and to be reminded by a relatively small event that good things are happening in the whole area of crime and drugs. We think that a good deal of the improvement in the crime and drug figures can simply be attributed to the public knowing that the Police are more on the ball these days.

Despite harsh politically motivated accusations about the crime figures and despite the fact that there has been a spate of handbag snatches and crimes against taxi drivers, general crime figures are down. There can be no doubt that there will be some hitches as the Police Service is revitalised but we must judge on the overall improvements.

The public should be careful not to be swayed against the Police administration or against hard earned successes by people with personal agendas or political programmes. Make no mistake, good things which benefit us all and add to our safety and the safety of our visitors are happening.

The laws as they apply to publication and to contempt of court prohibit us from saying very much specific right now because so many major cases are before the courts. The public seldom understands that we cannot comment and they cannot write letters to the Editor about ongoing court cases, no matter how much they may want to.

However, in a general sense, it is fair to point out how good it is to see drug related crime rates going down and major drug arrests taking place instead of the arrest of young people with small amounts of marijuana.

It is also a great relief to see any number of serious crimes being solved very quickly. The greatest deterrent to crime is the certainty of arrest. If people know they are going to get the time, they don't do the crime. It's that simple.

Cycle thefts are down. Some of this success is increased Police attention and some is public awareness and the insurance industry inspired marking of vehicles. The Police are the first to give credit to the public for helping.

The public is also helping by using the Crime Stoppers number. Alarm over rising crime caused the public to join in and to realise that the Police Service cannot combat crime alone.

Forget the Police for a moment, Bermuda deserves any help its people can provide. We must guard against drugs dominating this small Island and we must prevent criminals from forcing us to live our lives barricaded inside our homes. That has happened in other places. Therefore we must not be swayed by those people who appear to be "crime friendly and drug friendly''.

Bermuda needs to recognise the success of the Police administration by providing the machines they need to keep doing the job. Our Police Service had been allowed to drift some 20 years out of date and must be hauled quickly toward the year 2000.

This is no time for the public to relax. Very often when things begin to look better, people begin to relax. Bermudians should be careful not to do that. We must keep up our guard against crime.