A partnership between community organisations and Police under the Operation Ceasefire model could do more to thwart Bermuda's rising gun crime than the current scattered approach, according to the Opposition.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Sen. Michael Dunkley, believes the programme he is pushing would provide Bermuda with the structure needed to tackle the issue before it grows larger.

Operation Ceasefire is credited with reducing gun crimes in cities across the US. First used to thwart Boston's soaring homicide rate in the 1990s, it is a gun/violence prevention programme, which focuses on a collaboration between Police, public prosecutions and community activists.

It involves identifying the gang members, rounding them up and explaining that violence will no longer be tolerated and if it continues will be met with a strong Police presence. At the same time community workers are on hand at the meeting to offer people a way out of their lifestyle.

If violence does persist, Police focus in on the perpetrators and their friends and arrest them for anything from loitering to drug possession at every possible opportunity.

Sen. Dunkley first came across the programme in The New Yorker Magazine, which profiled it last June. At the time the magazine was on newsstands, four people had been shot on the Island and 27-year-old Kenwandee (Wheels) Robinson had been murdered. Mr. Robinson's murder was the first shooting of 2009. Since then, 11 people have been murdered and 17 others have been shot.

"I read about it and decided to do some research on it," he said. "It sounded to me that a lot of it Bermuda already had in place but they weren't working together. A big part is identifying the people involved. Our Police have already done that, and they know who the prolific priority offenders are.

"Another important part is the community buy-in, and we have that. There are a lot of community groups in Bermuda that are doing their bit, like CARTEL, but it is not a coordinated effort. We cannot have people picking away at little parts. We need to be coordinated and work together."

Soon after, Sen. Dunkley flew to the US to meet with Christine Cole, executive director of the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard University where Operation Ceasefire was first created.

Ms Cole told The Royal Gazette that based on information received from Sen. Dunkley she believes the programme could easily be tailored to fit Bermuda.

"This isn't copyrighted, Operation Ceasefire," she said. "The information is out there how to start one, but if the people of Bermuda, the Police of Bermuda, would like us to help we could do that. A team could come up here or we could come to Bermuda to create a model that fits with Bermuda's idiosyncrasies."

As for the cost, Ms Cole said there was actually very little additional funding required.

"It's not about allocating new resources," she said. "It's about using the existing resources more efficiently, more coordinated and better. You aren't asking the Police to do more, or the prosecutors to try more cases. You are asking them to do it in a different way."

Community buy-in is a large factor which costs very little, according to Ms Cole. Research has shown that many involved in violent lifestyles do want to get out. When their community makes it clear that the gangster lifestyle is not glasmorous or welcome and provides them with viable alternatives, it can have a big impact in reducing crime.

Sen. Dunkley agreed that the community buy-in was an integral part of Operation Ceasefire. He believes the will is there; Bermuda just needs a way to channel that energy.

He added that members of the Police seemed interested in the programme when he has mentioned it. The Police did not respond to requests from this newspaper on their interest in the programme.

"I think we need to stop the complacency on the Island," Sen. Dunkley said. "A lot of people talk about the problem and ways to fix it, but we are small enough that we can fix it.

"We need a targeted programme that has worked, one that will marshal all the resources we have and put it into a coordinated effort. It's time to put politics aside and get it done."