of Butterfield in Somerset should tell the public just how far the Police Service has come during the few Coxall years. The massive Somerset manhunt complete with tracker dogs and road blocks was up and going almost immediately.

Members of the Police Emergency Response Team were in hot pursuit accompanied by the Police K-9 or dog section. Not so long ago Police would have still been at the scene of the crime by afternoon.

Commissioner Colin Coxall's tactic of blanketing the area of major crimes with Police officers as soon as an incident is reported is very obviously producing results.

It would be well to remember that the greatest deterrent to crime is the certainty of arrest. Anyone who knows that they are very likely to be caught will think twice before they commit a crime.

But there are other factors here. When the public knows that the Police are serious and efficient and getting on with their job, then the people are much more likely to help in important ways. For far too long in Bermuda there was an attitude of: "Why bother to help. The Police won't do anything anyway.'' Results produce cooperation with the Police Service and even pride in that service. We have already seen that happen in the wake of Operation Cleansweep and it happened again on Tuesday when Somerset residents are said to have helped the Police enormously.

There is one caveat to that however; for reasons which remain a complete mystery, the Police only informed the public yesterday morning that the third man had been arrested, although he was taken in at 6 p.m. the previous day. It was wrong to keep the public in a state of nervous suspense overnight, believing that there could be an armed man on the loose.

The people should be encouraged to help the Police by the courage and determination shown by the bank's security guards. Pistol-whipped and with blood pouring from a head wound, Clayton Simmons continued to chase the masked and armed robbers. Mr. Simmons, an "unsung hero'' for his constant visits to hospital patients, is now a robbery hero.

Good results and quick results also greatly strengthen the morale and the enthusiasm of the Police Service itself. Any disciplined group which knows that it is doing well will compete to maintain and improve its own record.

This success comes at an opportune time for the Police in the wake of the recent Police debacle in the Supreme Court and calls for a Commission of Inquiry into the narcotics squad.

This second Somerset bank robbery in three months should do three things in Bermuda. It should make the value of a revitalised and more efficient Police Service very clear to those who have been critical of Commissioner Coxall.

Bermudians should be more determined than ever not to tolerate this kind of public disruption of their lives because this North American television behaviour is not what Bermudians want for Bermuda.

It should strengthen the resolve of the public to rid Bermuda of guns and encourage them to report guns to the Police and to refuse to have guns in their neighbourhoods or in their homes. Guns are not and must not be the Bermudian way. Staff and customers of the bank could have been killed. Mr.

Simmons could easily have been shot. As a Country we must prevent that happening again.