often related. There is also great concern over crimes committed by Bermuda's young people. Every day there are headlines about youth crime, cycle thefts, drug abuse and violence in schools. Bermuda's leaders express concern and the public is clearly alarmed.

Bermuda has a reputation as a safe and secure place to live and to visit. Our safety record is attractive to visitors who do not want their expensive vacation disrupted and it is one of the reasons international business locates here. But more than that, it is the way Bermudians want Bermuda to be.

In any country it is possible to create a mood which works to damage the major institutions of that society. That is what you do if you want to tear down an institution. Yet without many of our institutions and without basic support for those institutions we would have very little. We think the decline in tourism is ample evidence of the damage which can be done to an institution which is vital to every Bermudian when that institution is not protected.

We think there is now a major force in our society whose statements work against the Police Service. The Police play a vital role in Bermuda's safety and security. It is necessary that the Police Service be honest, efficient and fair. It is also necessary that the difficult and often thankless job they do for the people receive public support. If Bermudians create a climate in which Police bashing becomes a normal part of Bermuda's daily life, then we destroy our own safety and security.

This newspaper understands better than most that not every Police officer is a saint or even a good public servant. We are not suggesting that the public should support the Police no matter what they do or how they behave. There is no room in Bermuda for a Mark Fuhrman.

We are not suggesting that "bad apples'' in the Police Service should go unheeded, nor are we suggesting that Police commissions or omissions should go unreported.

We are suggesting that the Police Service as a Bermudian institution is better and more honourable than most and that the institution is degraded at Bermuda's peril.

We do not believe that many Bermudians want the Police Service degraded. In fact, they want it both improved and strengthened.

Yet leaders of the Progressive Labour Party continue to find ways to degrade the Police and the efforts of policemen, to criticise the structure, and to suggest that the Police Service as a Bermudian institution is basically alien.

The PLP has a proper duty as the Opposition to reveal Police abuses but it is wrong to damage the Police Service for political advantage. The atmosphere thus created can only suggest to young people that defiance of the law, assault on Policemen, and rejection of authority are, at best, condoned or, at worst, acceptable.

The PLP has already created a very similar atmosphere surrounding drug abuse.

We think they are playing a very dangerous and destructive game.