newspaper last Saturday will be cause for great public concern. Bermuda has been through a period when crime figures improved and there was real cause to hope that things were getting a good deal better. Now there is a dramatic rise in violent crime and an increase in burglaries which cause alarm in every household in the Country.

It is true that not all the crime figures are bad and, thankfully, the number of thefts from hotels were down considerably. The importance of that should not be underestimated because visitors who have their rooms burgled do not return to Bermuda and tell their friends and relatives not to come to Bermuda.

To their credit, the Police detection rate for many of these crimes is high and we have to note that they have people in custody for a number of the armed robberies, especially the violent robbery at Harrington Hundreds Grocery where a store owner was injured.

We agree with the argument that a significant number of the crimes are done by a relatively small number of hardened criminals and that in a small place like Bermuda the figures often reflect whether or not these people are in or out of jail. However, since we know that the numbers are small and we seem to be able to identify the hardened criminals, it would seem that a concerted effort should be made to rehabilitate these people, in or out of prison, and to protect Bermuda. The cost to Bermuda of working on these people should be less than the cost to the public of their activities or the cost of constantly arresting and rearresting them and keeping them in prison at public expense.

Crime in Bermuda is a community problem and the community needs to agree to help the Police in any way possible and to make it clear that Bermuda will not accept criminal activity, especially violence.

Politicians need to take the lead in this effort. Too often it seems to the public that some politicians say so little against crime that they are almost condoning criminal activity. They do not take strong stands and they often say things about the system which appear to give permission for criminals to offend.

There is a great deal of subtlety involved in this. When public figures imply that criminals are hard done by, they convey the idea that crime should not be punished. That gives permission to offend. The same is true of drug abuse and the crimes which result from drug abuse. Bermuda will never succeed in reducing crime and drugs without strong political leadership from every quarter.