The Police don't have the manpower to watch over every football game and serve the rest of the community at the same time, said Commissioner of Police George Jackson.

The statement came after violence erupted on Saturday following a game at Southampton Rangers Sports Club between Southampton Rangers and Boulevard Blazers.

Boulevard players were reportedly getting into a taxi when several men attacked the vehicle, bombarding it with bottles and rocks. The taxi's owner said a rear window was smashed with a shovel.

Commissioner Jackson said that the Bermuda Football Association (BFA) is expected to bring "high risk" games to the attention of the Police. In the case of Saturday's game, this was not done.

"We must be aware that there are around 25 games on every weekend," he said. "It would be impossible for Police to be at every game. We have to provide service to the rest of the community too.

"We do a risk assessment based on the information in our possession. Where we are given sufficient information, we deploy forces accordingly.

"We do have access to the games, but the onus is on the clubs to tell us if there could be an issue. We cannot be security guards.

"The clubs have to step up to the wicket and make these events safe for the public."

While Rangers' club president Randy Raynor told The Royal Gazette that the Police were contacted before the game. He told this paper on Sunday that he had contacted Police earlier in the day to request that they attended the grounds because he anticipated there might be problems. According to Mr. Raynor he was told Police were too busy to send more than a patrol past.

Commissioner Jackson denies the claim.

"This game unfortunately was not brought to the attention of the Police. We spoke to the management of the club, and he said he never made those comments to the press."

While no Police were at the club during the mêlée, Commissioner Jackson said that officers regularly patrol the area. Following the incident, an increased Police presence led to three arrests.

While he said the Police's policy on patrolling events has not changed, the Commissioner promised to "re-engage" with the BFA to better identify high-risk events.

General Secretary of the BFA, David Sabir, said the organisation would not comment about the incident until later in the week, but he did say that the organisation had been in contact with the Police.

The outbreak of violence at the club, according to Commissioner Jackson, is a symptom of a larger problem in the community he said, citing a stabbing incident at the Berkeley Institute yesterday which resulted in two injured students.

"The violence that we have seen at our sporting events is a representation of critical social ills that are affecting our community as a whole, and it is unfair to simply drop the ball at the feet of the BFA and to blame the Police.

"As recently as this afternoon, violence erupted in one of our schools. It is a social issue we must address. We must come together as a community, say enough is enough, and stomp this problem out."

The Commissioner advised the public that if they believed violence might break out at a football game, they should notify the club and the Police.

"Contact the club managers, and report it to us," he said. "People have to take responsibility for their actions and stop expecting Police to be mind readers."