utting themselves in harm?s way confronting the Island?s hardened criminals has paid off for frontline officers the Police Support Unit.

Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton recently announced the unit has achieved full-time status in recognition of the sterling work its officers carry out night after night when most islanders are out socialising or tucked up in bed.

Acting Inspector Steve Donnelly, who has been in charge of the unit since April last year, is relieved the unit has been given official approval but says it will make little difference.

Rather than having officers on near-permanent secondment from the Island?s Police stations they will now be given proper status. But numbers will remain at 22, although the unit is currently three short.

But it?s evident the unit has proved itself. Last month alone the team made 143 arrests and they have booked well over 2,000 people since being set up two years ago.

Acting Insp. Donnelly said the Island?s trouble makers are getting younger and more violent.

?It?s a very confrontational job because of the sorts of people we are dealing with on a day-to-day basis and I can?t see that changing. But the people we deal with are getting younger and younger. Some years ago it was a mature adult involved in this. Now it?s teens. Also they are more likely to resort to violence.

?More and more people carry knives, that is an ongoing problem. Numerous times we are faced with a large crowd of violent individuals. It can become very, very dangerous with people violently resisting arrest.?

The team are protected with body armour and carry 21-inch batons but Acting Insp. Donnelly says discretion is the better part of valour. If they are outnumbered by a baying mob they will withdraw. But losing the battle doesn?t mean you can?t win the war.

?Sometimes it?s prudent to make an arrest, sometimes we wait until the next day and arrest the person on their home.

?It isn?t as if we forget that it?s happened. We always follow up if people are creating a disturbance.?

One such scenario was during the mayhem which tore up Front Street on New Year?s Day last year.

And training allows troublemakers to be snatched from a mob without provoking it out of control.

?I always say the best weapon is your mouth. If you speak to people in a civil manner and treat them fairly they are more likely to respond to you.? But PSU officers could be forgiven for letting go a few expletives now that criminals have started pointing guns at them.

Such an incidence occurred in October near Chain Gate Hill, Devonshire. Again officers withdrew and bided their time before making an arrest.

Given such daily hazards it seems strange that anyone would want to continually put themselves in what is now the firing line.

But Acting Inspector Donnelly says: ?I like being on the front line. All the officers in the unit are committed and energetic. They are the type of people I like working with.

?I do feel it?s making a difference and I really enjoy the work we are doing.?

He banishes the myth that the unit is made up primarily of expatriates ? around half are locals and their efforts are much appreciated. ?They are coming up against people they know on a day to day basis, people who know them. They are doing a really good job.?

He says certain areas have been cleaned up substantially including the Spanish Point peninsula. In many cases the criminals will move on to another area where the cat and mouse game will begin again he concedes.

However the gratitude from those who have had their neighbourhood improved is rewarding says Acting Inspector Donnelly. Neighbourhoods are given his cell phone number to ensure a quick response while Community Beat Officers follow up on the ground. But he admits the lack of information hampers operations. ?It does annoy me. We could get a lot more information, especially with things like firearms. They know who?s dealing the drugs and where they are hidden but they don?t want to get involved.?

He said it was all the more galling given that people could call Crime Stoppers where the information would be taken by people in Florida and could not be traced. ?It?s very frustrating.?

If you have information call Crime Stoppers 24-hour confidential hot line on 1 800 623 8477.