SPORTS MINISTER Glenn Blakeney said out loud this week what everybody else has been thinking for some time – why is it in a country so small the Police cannot control the violence which continues to blight sporting events?

The latest incident at Southampton Oval last weekend saw youths battle with sticks, shovels and hammers after a match between Boulevard and Southampton Rangers, smashing up a taxi in the process. And, of course, Police were nowhere to be seen even though, it seems, everybody else saw the trouble coming.

The old 'town' versus 'country' war is showing no sign of abating.

And nobody seems to be doing anything to stop it, least of all Police.

Couldn't we just round up these 'gangsters', stick 'em in one of those Ultimate Fighting cages and let them sort it out themselves? The no-holds sport is gaining popularity all around the world.

It could become Bermuda's biggest tourist attraction. After all, aren't these local lads supposed to be tougher than anyone?

But in all seriousness, Blakeney hit the nail on the head when he said: "In a 22-square mile Island you have maybe 300 people involved in this type of behaviour. So when you have the kind of intelligence the Police have, I don't understand why this is such an overwhelming challenge."

It's good to know that Blakeney is as perplexed as the rest of us.

He said he felt 'let down' by the Police.

Join the club.

What really is so difficult about weeding out these thugs? Everybody except the Police seems to know who they are, which families they belong to, where they hang out, and when the next confrontation is about to take place.

Road safety, of course, is important. But there does seem to be a disparity between the emphasis put on catching speeders than put on catching potential murderers.

The official Police excuse after arriving on the scene last weekend long after the culprits had vanished was that they can't monitor every football match. They don't have the manpower.

That's true. And they don't have to.

But there are games which are inviting trouble.

Saturday's clash was between two teams in the newly-formed Professional Development League which is restricted to players between the ages of 18 and 23. Isn't that roughly the same age group which attracts the troublemakers? And when the likes of Boulevard and Southampton Rangers meet, it's a recipe for 'war'.

Rangers president Randy Raynor even warned Police before the game that he feared there might be trouble – whether it be between the players or their so-called fans. For the hooligans it was the perfect battleground. They've used the same venue in the past.

But Police Commissioner George Jackson later attempted to pass the blame over to Bermuda Football Association which he said were supposed to identify what they considered 'high risk' games.

The onus, he said, was on clubs to "tell us if there could be an issue."

That's a rather pathetic excuse.

Don't Police have any information or intelligence about these gangs? Isn't it they who are supposed to be determining whether and where violence is expected to erupt.

As David Sabir, general secretary of the BFA, has repeatedly said, this isn't a football problem, it's a social problem. Shaun Goater made exactly the same point in his Royal Gazette column this week.

Football grounds happen to be convenient meeting places for any planned confrontation. They're spacious and clearly lack the kind of club security that might get in the way of these teenagers hell-bent on disruption.

Is it really that difficult to stamp out?

Are the Police actually admitting they can't control a couple of hundred thugs running amok in this confined space without any fear of being punished? We have a Police force of more than 400.

If it wasn't so terrifying, it would border on the farcical.

While recognising this is a social malaise, not by any means restricted to football, Blakeney made some valid points.

"I'm not asking for 30 officers to be at a game, but to use their intelligence better. They should be able to deploy resources better than they do.

"We've had the St. George's incident and the Cup Match incident, and now this . . .

"I don't want to be hearing statistics about how bad it's getting, I want to hear about action and what is being done. I think the Police know we are paying them to figure out how to deal with the challenge, and so far they haven't shown me that not being at the (football) games works."

Commissioner Jackson's response was: "The clubs have to step up to the wicket and make these events safe for the public."

But both the BFA and the clubs have already increased security. They, too, are short of manpower and their members don't want to approach the gang members in the interests of their own safety, especially those who might be carrying guns or machetes.

Police have their own weapons, and the authority to use them. And they have the power to make arrests and throw the culprits into a Police cell before taking them to court, where hopefully they'll be punished with the full force of the law.

Everybody seems to agree this is a major social problem and it's getting worse by the week.

Isn't it time for Police to step up to the wicket.

– ADRIAN ROBSON