Police need to take "decisive, aggressive and appropriately violent action" to tackle Bermuda's criminals, Public Safety Minister David Burch claimed yesterday.

The Minister, defending a $2.3 million cut in the Policing budget this year, told a press conference that money was not the issue but dealing with crime in a "more aggressive manner" was.

"I want the Bermuda Police Service to stop tiptoeing through the oleanders," he said. "I think there is a problem in the Police service in that there is a reluctance to even step out.

"It's not just in the Police service, it's across the board. People are afraid of being criticised, of being penalised."

Senator Burch said he wanted to assure officers that they had the full support of the Government in getting tougher with offenders.

"We want action and we want decisive, aggressive and appropriately violent action," he said.

He said that if Policemen were deployed, for example, to a house where someone had a loaded weapon, "I'm not expecting them to act like they are in the church choir".

"We are not talking about Sunday school," added the Minister. "We are at a stage where we have got to do things differently and that's not backing off."

The Minister said officers needed to concentrate on doing their jobs and stop worrying about the rest of the criminal justice system.

"I don't want this fear and this ongoing concern that: 'I can't do that because the courts will do this'. Your job is to police this Country and that's what I want you to do and I want you to do it in a more aggressive manner."

He added: "All I require of the Bermuda Police Service is just for them to do their job. Stop worrying about whether prosecution or probation will work."

Sen. Burch said the Police Commissioner participated fully in the decision to slash the budget from $62.8 million to $60.5 million and that critics should look beyond the bottom line.

"I do not think and nor does the Commissioner think that this $2.3 million cut in the budget is going to impact the ability to fight crime."

He said less money was being spent this year (see separate panel) on Police cadets, on overtime in the central command area and on new vests, since the majority were replaced last year.

The Minister said in trying to reduce his overall Ministry budget by 10.5 percent, as requested by the Finance Minister last year, he aimed not to simply "roll over" items from the previous year and assume money had to be spent in those areas.

Sen. Burch claimed "both Opposition parties" — referring to the UBP and "certain media" — had been mischievous at best and "outright dishonest" at worst in highlighting the Police budget cut without looking at the details.

"The suggestion that this Government is shortchanging the Police on the funding of the fight on crime is simply untrue. The Bermuda Police Service is not exempt from fiscal accountability and this reduction in their overall budget will not affect their ability to police Bermuda."

This newspaper did ask the Minister for more information on the cuts after the 2009/10 Budget was delivered last month but the request went unanswered.

Asked yesterday if he could have avoided the criticism and reassured the public by explaining the reduction during a press briefing he gave immediately after the Budget was delivered, the Minister said he only had ten minutes to speak. "I don't think you can cover everything," he said.

The numbers according to Sen. Burch:

• The Police budget has been cut from $62.8 million to $60.5 million this year. The amount slashed — $2.3 million — amounts to less than four percent of the 2008/09 Police budget.

• The reduction includes a $941,000 cut in training, which includes $340,000 from the Police cadet programme (reducing the number of cadets budgeted for from 20 to ten, though the Island actually only has three) and $300,000 for safety vests (which was not needed as 85 percent of them were replaced last year).

• The $1 million reduction in the central area command includes $932,000 less in the overtime budget (which still stands at $2.4 million — the equivalent of 28 full-time officers).

• Ten posts are not being funded in the serious crime unit, accounting for an $821,000 reduction there. Support is seconded from other areas in the force as needed.

• The budget includes a $1.3 million increase for housing allowances for Police officers.

• Bermuda Police Service has 467 officers (ten short of being at full strength) and 114 civilian staff.