Shadow House leader John Barritt has called on Police to protect informers who take a stand against crime in their neighbourhood.

He spoke as MPs from both sides condemned the recent violent crime wave.

Government MP Dale Butler and the Opposition's Maxwell Burgess said Bermuda's small size meant it should be easier to identify and catch criminals because someone would know them.

But Mr. Barritt said: "I don't want to rain on your parade but rhetoric only goes so far."

What stopped neighbourhoods acting was the fear of retaliation said Mr. Barritt after citing one woman who had complained to Police about drug activity only to be told she should organise with neighbours.

"I don't think it means having Police officers live in their houses. Once, Police installed cameras in a particular area and were able to arrest people when they left the neighbourhood. It looked like a lucky capture."

Mr. Burgess praised Government's guns amnesty and urged non-baseball player to return their bats and non-gardeners to return the machetes.

Mr. Butler, the Community Affairs and Sports Minister, said he hoped putting the Folk Life festival programme in the schools would instil national pride and help reduce divisions.

He said: "If we had more talk about national pride there would be less talk about 'town' and 'country'.

"It's absolute nonsense talking about town and country when your relatives live all over the country.

"The island is too small to divide itself that way."

St. David's MP Suzann Holshouser feared those who most needed to give up their guns and ammunition would hang on to them and she urged more resources for the Police.

Opposition colleague Cole Simons said it was people not equipment to blame for violence and murder and more resources needed to be put into the Alternatives to Incarceration programme to reduce recidivism.

He said: "People kill people, people shoot guns, people contaminate people's drugs, people drive in a drunken stupor.

"We need to address people and not the tools."

Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton urged public support for the amnesty and said an intervention by one person could help get someone away from crime and on the right track.