MORE than 5,000 arrest warrants issued by the courts have failed to be executed by police, the has learned.

And the failure to haul offenders before a magistrate has also resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines not being collected, according to one court source.

Yesterday police spokesman Dwayne Caines confirmed that 5,000 was ?a conservative figure?, but pointed out that did not necessarily mean 5,000 criminals were on the loose.

?It?s safe to say that 80 to 90 per cent of these warrants have been issued for traffic-related offences,? Mr. Caines said, adding that he did not know how far back the oldest warrants dated.

?You can be fined for some traffic violation, then not pay the fine, then not appear in court and multiple warrants are then issued against the single individual for each offence.

?Nevertheless, this is a concern to the Police Service for a number of reasons, so much so that we are in the process of formulating a ?warrant team? to crack down on the number of non-executed warrants.?

Mr. Caines said that, despite Bermuda?s size, it was often difficult for police to trace offenders.

He said many miscreants could easily go into hiding if they knew they were wanted, while others gave false names, addresses and places of employment at the time of an offence ? facts that cannot be checked at the time.

?It?s really not as simple as just going around and knocking on their door,? Mr. Caines said.

?Just look at the problems we have when a teenager goes missing for days.

?There?s also a question of prioritising ? do we go after someone who hasn?t paid a parking ticket or do we concentrate instead on a robbery??

Mr. Caines urged anyone who has an arrest warrant to contact the Service?s Prosecutions Department as soon as possible.

?It?s so much better if you come to us rather than us having to come to you,? he said.

Home Affairs & Public Safety Minister Randolph Horton could not be reached to comment on the statistics.

But Opposition Deputy Leader Michael Dunkley said the figures were ?astounding and despicable?.

?There?s no reason why we should allow something like that to fall so far behind,? he said.

?This Government is talking about reviewing the justice system, trumpeting its own legislation and trying to give itself some credibility through the justice system, but it just goes to show that the system we have in place is just not working.

?What does this say about our ability to administer justice in Bermuda?

?What?s the solution? We clear the backlog, find out why it happened and then make sure that we don?t allow it to build up again ? simple common sense.?

Police want to introduce tough new laws making it an offence not to be carrying a valid driving licence while on the road.

A police source, who asked not to be named, said the measure would make it harder for those stopped by officers to give false personal details, and subsequently escape prosecution.

The source said: ?That?s one of the things we would like to see implemented, as they do in other countries such as the States.