about Bermuda's overseas image. According to Associated Press a British tabloid has dubbed Florida the "State of Terror''. Canadians have been advised to be careful down there. And Florida appears to have gotten the message.

The problem is caused by the very thing which Bermuda is always so concerned about, crimes against visitors including the recent Florida slayings of two Canadians, a German and a Briton.

Florida is taking steps to make sure vacationers keep coming and return home safe and sound. Tourism is Florida's biggest industry, pumping $28 billion into the state's economy every year.

Quite often in Bermuda people question the size and cost of the Police service, pointing out that it is, per capita, one of the largest in the world.

Very often those people overlook the amount of Police time spent on looking after visitors and keeping Bermuda safe. It is the fact that Bermuda is safe which attracts many return visitors back to Bermuda. There is nothing worse on vacation than feeling endangered.

"We almost cancelled the trip because of all the crime,'' said a Florida visitor from Ontario, as he relaxed on a Fort Lauderdale Beach. So far the publicity hasn't brought a fall-off in the number of visitors to Florida but when a tourist gets hurt in Florida it makes headlines everywhere.

In 1991, 36,512 visitors were robbed, raped, killed or otherwise victimised, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. That represents 3.5 percent of all crime victims in the state and is virtually unchanged from the two previous years. The Canadian Automobile Association issued a warning this month advising Canadian visitors to Florida to carry low amounts of cash, avoid bad neighbourhoods and keep their doors locked, among other things.

Police have increased patrols of areas with heavy tourist concentrations, and Dade County, which includes Miami, has formed a robbery intervention detail, using undercover agents to try to catch criminals who prey on tourists.

Tourist bureaus in Miami and Orlando for some time have been distributing brochures at hotels, rental car agencies and elsewhere that include safety tips. The state also is preparing such a pamphlet.

While Bermuda does have crimes against visitors the general attitude of Bermudians deplores such actions. We think that because Bermuda is generally well policed visitors feel safer here than they do in many resorts.

This newspaper has opposed cuts in the Police on previous occasions and we think it is vital to Bermuda to maintain high standards of safety. It goes without saying that safety is as important to Bermudians as it is to visitors.

The kind of publicity Florida is now getting is not healthy for any destination nor is it comfortable for visitors who continue to go there.

Bermuda has to be very careful that it does not make cuts in the Police Service which could lead to a lack of comfort for visitors and locals. A time of economic stress on Bermudians seems to be exactly the wrong time to decrease policing.