Cup Match is over for another year, and has thankfully passed without a violent incident. After outbursts of violence at White Hill Field and at Wellington Oval in the last 12 months, there is reason to be happy that this holiday passed without a major incident.

Still, celebrating what should be taken for granted is something of an indictment on the state of Bermuda.

In the circumstances, Government and the Police were right to increase policing at Cup Match and at other public events. That action, coupled with plenty of public warning, has been enough to prevent major incidents, albeit at a heavy cost both in money and in time.

Government has also introduced legislation to hike penalties for violent crimes at public events. This is a direct reaction to the shocking events of recent month. It is clear that Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton, a former sporting great, is particularly appalled.

This is understandable, especially for a Government that wants to be seen to be doing something. But the fact that it is understandable does not necessarily make it right.

Why should crimes in public places be punished more severely than those that take place in homes or businesses, or schools for that matter? The idea that families should be afraid to go to football games or Cup Match is as offensive as the idea that people feel unsafe in their homes, workplaces, schools or in the street. The Government, for that very reason, has resisted heightening penalties for crimes against visitors.

If Government really wanted to deter crime, it could hike penalties for all crimes, and ensure that people actually serve their sentences instead of being released early.

Even then, this only goes part of the way to solving the problem. All of these measures treat the symptoms of the disease and not the cure.

The disease is gang warfare, and increased penalties and heavy policing at public events will not solve it, even if it restricts the gangs? freedom to act.

What is needed is a carrot and stick approach. A Police task force dedicated to breaking up gangs and cracking down on any form of anti-social behaviour is the stick.

The carrot is the community?s efforts to ensure that young people take advantage of the opportunities for education, jobs and meaningful activities outside of work and school.

Those who are disrupting public events and committing crimes are a relatively small minority, whose numbers grow when they are joined by young people who are generally law-abiding and responsible who are dragged along by events. Dividing the hard core from the hangers-on is essential.

What is needed is an acceptance by the Police and the Government that gangs exist and are a threat to public order. Having finally accepted that, a community effort to put an end to it by hiking penalties on the one hand and showing there is a better way on the other hand is the only solution.