Laws allowing police to force groups to move along may not be the right solution to tackle crime in White Hill, according to some area residents.While an initiative aimed at cracking down on antisocial behaviour in the Cambridge Road has been deemed a success by police and residents alike, some in White Hill don’t think the same strategy will work in their neighbourhood.“It’s a different community,” one resident said. “The people on the street here aren’t the ones causing the problems. Why should the innocent be punished for the guilty?”During a recent meeting in Southampton about the issue of crime in the community, police said that the White Hill and Woodlawn Road area are the next targets for use of Section 110 of the Criminal Code Amendment Act.Under the act, police are given extended powers to disperse groups loitering in specific areas.At a recent public meeting, members of the public said more needed to be done in the area.Since the rise in gun violence began, the White Hill area has been the location for several violent incidents, including shootings and armed robberies.However, several area residents said they didn’t believe the Section 110 legislation is the right approach for White Hill.One lifelong White Hill resident, who asked not to be identified, said: “We don’t have that kind of problem around here, not like they do down at Cambridge Road.”He said he believed the problems in the community are rooted in increased development bringing new people to the area and the loss of the club at White Hill Field.“When they tore that place down, it really hurt the community,” he said. “We were promised another sports facility and club which we haven’t seen in many years.“I think a lot of what is happening now in the community wouldn’t be happening if we had that facility, but nobody is being honest with the people in the community about what is happening.“They say they have money put aside for it but why isn’t anything being done?”Another resident said: “It’s a whole different spot. It’s not like that out here. People are going to hang out on the gate from time to time.“People come down here to the gate for around 45 minutes or an hour and they’re gone. Nobody’s here right now. They’re at work.”While he insisted that the people who hang out in the area are not problem starters, he said more must be done to combat violence on the Island.“There’s too much murder,” he said. “There’s too much killing. Most of these guys are related, but they don’t know it until it’s too late.”A third resident said that while he understood what police are trying to do by moving along those gathering in areas like Cambridge Road, he felt more focus needs to be put on giving young people opportunities.“I think we need to take these guys off the street and give them jobs,” he said. “A lot of them can’t get jobs because they have criminal records, so they find themselves stuck.“They have nobody to look up to. They have no role models. If you upset them once, they think they don’t need to stick it out. We have got to build that trust.”White Hill area MP Terry Lister recently spoke out about the antisocial behaviour in the community, saying: “It’s outrageous and this isn’t the Bermuda we want.“And so what does the Government do? We react on all fronts from a policing point of view we brought legislation, we’ve given powers to the police as an example have just recently been up to Cambridge Road and made a difference.“They’re indicating that they will come down to us in my constituency and do some things with us. But it’s everybody having a piece.”He said that a carrot-and-stick approach was necessary, offering those involved in antisocial behaviour positive alternatives while threatening serious penalties for breaking the law.“Let’s educate, let’s find jobs, let’s give people a reason to walk away from that sort of lifestyle and heavy penalties in the courts are certainly having an impact,” he said.Speaking to the young people in the community, he said he had been told that the stiffer penalties and successful prosecutions are having an effect on criminal activity“When you talk to these young people what they’re saying is 35 years in prison is too much,” he said.“They’re not saying our life isn’t worth anything, they’re saying ‘my own life isn’t worth giving up 35 years in Westgate for this guy, so I’m not going to do it’.“Hang on, where does that 35 years come from? It comes from this House. From the minds and thoughts of the people who contribute to running the Progressive Labour Party Government. We recognise the problem and we’re dealing with it.”