A decline in crime levels will be short-lived unless Bermudians are put to work, believes Craig Cannonier.The One Bermuda Alliance leader applauded police and the community for their efforts, but warned: “We need to be creating jobs for Bermudians and not have them have to fall back to a life of crime, or into a life of crime because they simply can’t even put groceries on the table.“This should be a major concern for Bermudians, and that’s why the OBA is saying we have got to get down to creating jobs for Bermudians.“Bermuda needs to get back to working. The control over crime is about the quality of life and that’s something we should be looking for, a better quality of life.”His comments followed the release of 2011 crime statistics by the Bermuda Police Service this week. Those figures showed overall crime to be at its lowest since comparative reporting started in 2000.Mr Cannonier noted: “Theft and robbery are also up and we believe that that is a direct result in relation to the economy and what is going on.“None of us can escape from the fact that when we go home we’re locking our cars, when we come to town or wherever we go we’re locking our windows, we’re constantly locking our doors even if we’re home during the day.“It’s about freeing you and your family from the fear of crime that affects everything in everyday life. So let’s get back to making sure that we feel safe and secure and that our community feels confident that everything is being done to restore that control.”The Opposition leader commended the public for an apparent shift in attitude when it comes to providing information on crime to the police.Mr DeSilva stated this week that residents are responding better to police requests for information.Said Mr Cannonier: “I would encourage the community to continue to be involved with a better community, to be involved with a better Bermuda and ensuring that everyone feels safer within the communities that we live in.”The Bermuda Police Service, which had its funding cut in the 2011/12 Budget, needs adequate funding if it is to do its job properly, he added.“We are encouraging our Government to give the funds necessary for our police service to work effectively ...[we are asking the Government to] put the resources back into the community that will make them feel safer, make them feel more secure and that will lead to a better Bermuda.“Accolades go out to the Bermuda Police Service because they have worked with budgets that have declined over the past years where they have been under-budgeted for the police and then after the case, where our Government has had to release more funds to them.“We need to arm our police service with the best resources possible, they need the funds to get those resources going.”