Premier Ewart Brown said critics of his plan to bring a S.W.AT team to Bermuda should look at where the Island is now without one.

However, he refused to say if the idea is still on the cards in the wake of the gun violence over Easter.

Dr. Brown announced in August 2008 that he recommended the formation of a Bermuda S.W.A.T team. The announcement was made in the wake of the drive-by shooting of Prince Barrington Edness, 22, and the stabbing death of Kellon Hill, 18.

"Those who choose gunfire to settle their disputes should be on alert. Our strongest stand yet against your senseless violence could be on the horizon," he said at the time.

The idea was supported by Governor Sir Richard Gozney, but sparked controversy from other quarters, particularly from the Opposition. The then Shadow Justice Minister Mark Pettingill described the idea as "nonsense" and "incredibly out of touch," and it also provoked sharp criticism from the public.

Dr. Brown said yesterday: "If I could have shared with you the e-mail and phone call push back that came, some of them [were] asking me if I realised what country I was in, that this was not for Bermuda."

However, referring to the three separate gun and knife incidents over Easter that left one man dead and four people injured, he said: "We can now fast forward to today. Just this morning I received a message from the Department of Statistics indicating there were people that had wanted to participate in collecting the data for the census 2010, and these people were now calling in wondering whether they wanted to do it because of the fear for their own safety. That is the Bermuda that we are living in today. And we share our disappointment and our determination to do something about it."

However, asked if the plan for S.W.A.T is now moving forward, he pointed to comments from Senator David Burch earlier in the press conference that Police tactics could not be divulged for fear of alerting criminals.

Dr. Brown said: "I am not going to discuss any specific details. I think Minister Burch covered the rationale for that position. In that if we're telling you, we will be telling everybody else. And it only takes a minute."

However, Shadow Minister for Public Safety Michael Dunkley said: "The Premier suggested community 'push back' killed his S.W.A.T team plan. His words provided a disturbing insight: If a S.W.A.T team was the deemed to be the right thing for Bermuda at the time, then he should have made sure it was done. This was a leadership moment and the Premier shied from it."

S.W.A.T stands for Special Weapons And Tactics team, and is an elite paramilitary special operations tactical unit in the US and some international law enforcement departments.

They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers. Their duties include performing hostage rescues and counter-terrorism operations, serving high risk arrest and search warrants, subduing barricaded suspects, and engaging heavily-armed criminals.