Inappropriate content

December 29, 2009

Dear Sir,

Very seldom do I pay attention to TV commercials.

However, while watching the 7 p.m. evening news last night on ZBM TV, I was drawn to an advertisement sponsored by the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention ("CADA").

Since I have always considered this TV slot to be within what has been widely regarded as "family viewing time", I was, to say the least, quite shocked by the video content of the commercial. Among other scenes, it showed a young man who had clearly urinated on himself; a young man who was making a sexual pass at a young woman; and a young woman who was exposing her thongs and those parts of her anatomy that envelope them.

Even though I can hardly be considered a prude, I found the CADA advertisement quite distasteful and inappropriate for airing during a time when young people would likely be watching TV.

I do not doubt that CADA's intentions are good. However, if other viewers were like me, they probably missed the message because they were too focused on the video content.

I therefore call on CADA to stop airing this commercial on local TV, or as a minimum, stop airing it during prime time or earlier.

AN AVERAGE JOE

Smith's

Quality not quantity

December 30, 2009

Dear Sir,

According to recent reports in The Royal Gazette, the Bermuda Police Service has increased its manpower in the past ten years by 24 percent and Bermuda is now the third most heavily policed country in the world. (Royal Gazette, December 24, 2009) In approximately the same period serious crime has risen by around 15 percent, from 308 incidents reported in 2001 to 355 in 2008. Whatever the results are for 2009, no one can have failed to be aware of the roiling wave of shootings and murders in Bermuda in 2009.

By contrast, the New York City police force has reduced the number of its officers between 2000 and 2009, from 40,800 to 35,800, respectively (a reduction of 12 percent), mainly because of budget cuts that have reduced the number of new recruits. In that same period, the number of murders in New York City has fallen from 2,262 in 2000 to just over 460 in 2009 (a reduction of about 80 percent since 2000).

Whilst numerous sociological, political, operational and other factors clearly influence the crime rate of any place, the evidence strongly suggests that more Police officers on the beat do not necessarily lead to fewer crimes. It is, rather, how effectively Police officers are used that makes the difference. The quality of policing will help Bermuda to reduce its rising tide of criminality, not necessarily and in and of itself the quantity of its bobbies on the beat.

GRAHAM FAIELLA

London, UK