criticised the Police?s handling of the weekend violence aboard the questioning why they were not aware of the rival gangs on board.

Making his comments on the motion to adjourn, Sen. Richards said it was ?obvious? that Police ?did not have a handle? on the activities of gangs and were not properly monitoring their movements.

?It is clear that the intelligence the Police have at their disposal in this area is pretty inadequate,? he said.

?If a boat this size is full of these warring factions you would have thought the Police would have done more to ensure that violence did not break out. Why didn?t they do something about it? Instead they are trying to bamboozle the public into believing they?ve got the situation under control when they clearly haven?t.?meanwhile said that the Government could not hide from the growing correlation between drugs and violent crime and the ?deplorable? behaviour of some young people in Bermuda.

While not answering Sen. Richards? charge directly, he did point out that the budget and staff levels of the Police have been increased for five consecutive years and the new, 22-man Police Support Unit had already made significant progress in the war against drugs and crime.said if the community does not make concerted efforts to bring acts of violence under control the Island will ?go down the tubes.?

?It is very depressing to me as a black male, because it appears that most of these acts of violence are being done by young black people,? he said. ?We must do something as a community to take this community back.?

Sen. Bascome added that people must be willing to stand up and be witnesses in court when they see violent acts, accepting there may be ?repercussions? after they testify against individuals.said he would encourage parents to get more involved with their children, regardless how old they are.

?Parents must maintain some sort of connection with their children,? he said. ?It does take a village to raise a child but parents have the most impact on their children and must take this responsibility seriously.?said: ?I am disturbed by the events over the weekend, particularly as it happened on a Government tender vessel made available for entertainment.?

He stressed that in his capacity as Chairman of Marine and Ports, he will have to consider whether situations like this can be prevented from happening in future and to provide the necessary protection so that a ?normal summer activity? (booze cruises) does not have to be stopped.