by Bermuda Police.

Housing a preschool in a Police building is among ideas outlined in a recent report by acting Supt. Larry Smith.

In September, Mr. Smith travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to look at "community policing,'' and to Galveston, Texas to study disaster planning. He was impressed by the innovations he saw and brought them home to Bermuda.

Changes proposed by Mr. Smith include: a curfew and truancy programme for youth; new Police precincts in vacant buildings; a "weed and seed'' programme, through which crime problems like the ones at the bus terminal would be jointly addressed by Police and other agencies; purchase of a high-tech "mobile command unit'' by the Emergency Measures Organisation; and a common frequency for emergency use by Police, Fire, ambulance, and other agencies.

Reports on community policing and disaster planning are in the hands of Commissioner Lennett (Lennie) Edwards. When it comes to community policing, "the Commissioner feels committed to this programme,'' Mr. Smith told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"I know he'll do everything in his power to carry out some of these recommendations.'' Community policing, which involves greater interaction between Police officers and the public in non-emergency situations, "is really not just walking the beat,'' Mr. Smith said. "It also involves the public.'' In Atlanta, where Police Chief Eldrin Bell has been making changes since he took over the force in 1990, Mr. Smith was impressed to learn that the Police Academy shared its quarters with a preschool.

When training officers were not busy with recruits, "they become like surrogate parents to these kids,'' he said. "They enter the classroom and interact with the preschoolers, reading stories and sharing in some of the teaching.

"It cements an early relationship between Police, young people, and their parents.'' A similar set-up could be looked at with Police training in Bermuda, possibly involving additional officers from the Outward Bound programme, he said.

Mr. Smith said Police could also return truants to school and children to their homes after a designated curfew. Police had simply reacted to calls from the public for too long, he said. It was time to be proactive and more "community-minded.'' Police precincts in high-crime areas and to fill gaps between existing stations could be part of the concept, he said.

In Atlanta, businesses paid for and renovated an empty building for Police to use in a high-crime commercial area, and City Council paid for another in a low-income residential area, Mr. Smith said.

In Bermuda, "my immediate target would be to close the gaps between Hamilton and Somerset and Hamilton and St. George's,'' possibly with part-time precincts in Warwick and Smith's, he said. Other precincts in higher crime areas like Court Street should also be looked at.

A "weed and seed'' programme could address the crime problems caused by youths who hang out at the main bus terminal in Hamilton, Mr. Smith said.

The concept involves "weeding out'' a problem, then "seeding'' the area with crime prevention programmes.

At the bus terminal, a joint approach by Police, the Education Ministry, the Public Transportation Board, Probation Services, and the Ministry of Youth and Sport was likely needed to "weed out'' the crime problem, he said. Then, a nearby facility would be needed where youth could gather peacefully instead.

Having attended a disaster planning course in Texas on the same trip to the United States, Mr. Smith recommended purchase of a "mobile command unit'' for use after hurricanes and other emergencies.

The force in Atlanta had such a vehicle that was the size of a bus, he said.

"It was self-sufficient,'' he said. "You wouldn't have to worry about Belco having to be called in to give you electricity, because it had its own generator.'' The unit also had computers, radio and other communications equipment, and a small jail that could double as a medical room, he said. "It was an ideal situation,'' he said. "It had every conceivable piece of equipment that you could consider for an emergency.

"If there was a disaster in St. George's, or at the airfield, this bus just drives up there.'' Mr. Smith, who was especially interested in the command structure used in emergencies, said a common frequency was needed for emergency use so Police and other agencies knew what one another was doing.

POLICE MAKE APPEAL IN ARSON ATTACK CRM Police are appealing to a couple that were the first to discover the $150,000 arson attack at the Pembroke Community Club.

At about 3.30 a.m. on Friday December 2 a male and female went to a house near the club and banged on the door asking to use the phone.

Police reported that the occupant of the house refused to open the door for the couple but called the Fire Service upon their request.

Investigators would like to speak to these people and any others who may have been early witnesses to the fire.

They are asked to call Detective Insp. Farley at the Incident Room, tel.

295-0011.

WOMAN ADMITS STEALING ALL THE TIME CTS A 48-years-old Smith's woman who said she steals from the MarketPlace all the time was fined $150 in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

June A. Beek of Harrington Sound pleaded guilty to stealing household goods from the Hamilton grocery store.

Prosecuting Sgt. Kenrick James told the court that on September 10 at 9.05 a.m. Police were called to the MarketPlace on Church Street.

"Beek was being detained by store managers. When questioned by Police she said she had stolen two bottles of Whisk detergent, soda, batteries, candies totaling $21.82,'' Sgt. James said.

When asked by Magistrate the Wor. Charles-Etta Simmons if she had anything to say Beek said: "I always steal from the MarketPlace, it's a habit. I have learned my lesson now.'' Ms. Simmons fined Beek $150.