Senator Smith: Statement On Gang Task Force

[Updated with video] This morning [June 1] Senator Jonathan Smith, the Junior Minister for National Security, delivered a Ministerial Statement on the Gang Task Force, which is being organized with an aim to stem the rising crime the island is experiencing.

Senator Smith, who served as Bermuda’s Police Commissioner from 2000-2005, said “These are critical times for our Island and I am committed to employing my experience and knowledge in support of the Minister and the security services in the fight to bring about safer communities for Bermuda.”

The Gang Task Force will be organized to compliment their community roles, the Gold Level will be focused on policies and general oversight; Silver Level will be operational and enforcfement based while the Bronze Level will be community/private sector organisations.

Senator Smith’s full statement follows below:

Madame President, thank you for the leave to make this Statement. I have already expressed my gratitude to the honourable Premier for the confidence she has shown in appointing me to the Senate and more importantly to serve as the Junior Minister for National Security.

These are critical times for our Island and I am committed to employing my experience and knowledge in support of the Minister and the security services in the fight to bring about safer communities for Bermuda.

Madame President, too often in the wake of some act of violence the call goes up from the Opposition and others for some kind of action; the blame is sometimes laid at the feet of the Government and one might be made to think that we, collectively, had pulled the trigger.

Of course that is not correct, but it is precisely that kind of “blame game” that fuels the public frustration with the response and the work of prevention that so many people are doing.

Madame President, in the Speech from the Throne of 2010 the Government undertook to bring together all of those agencies that are engaged in the prevention, management and rehabilitation of at-risk members of our society.

The Gang Task Force has been formed and through various stakeholder meetings a strategy to best use the resources is being developed. It is clear that a co-ordinated effort on all ends of these issues is required if we are to arrest the trend of anti-social behaviour and violence in the community.

Madame President, the groups in this Task Force will be organized to compliment their community roles and led by key persons from each area. The Gold Level will be focused on policies and general oversight; Silver Level will be operational and enforcfement based while the Bronze Level will be community/private sector organisations.

In the coming weeks, the Ministry will set out for the people of Bermuda the work plan and intended results of our efforts.

Madame President, the call for tougher laws has been heeded and the Government has actively considered the means by which to continue to disrupt the rhythm of those whose actions threaten our way of life. In “another place” the Minister has outlined in a series of statements that nothing is off the table.

To remind Senate, Madame President, provisions to deal with suspected criminals and their movement have been mooted as well as extensions to the Proceeds of Crime legislation to ensure that crime does not pay.

In conjunction with the draftsmen and legal advice of the Attorney General’s Chambers, active research is underway on how best to construct these provisions so that they are not incongruous with our Constitution.

Madame President this is no easy task; we value our freedoms in this democracy and do not trouble them lightly. The balance we strike will be one that also respects the need for people to feel safe in the very communities the Constitution was designed to protect.

Madame President, in 2009 the Government equipped the Bermuda Police Service with a raft of sweeping legislative authority to stop and search individuals and to regulate the conduct of those persons whose anti-social behaviour might lead to violence.

I can advise the Senate that the Commissioner has directed the men and women of the Service to make full use of those powers to ensure that swift and strong action is taken against offenders.

This effort is complimented by a prosecutorial apparatus that has presented cases of high evidential quality so that significant convictions have been secured and dangerous offenders are now incarcerated.

Madame President, the provisions of the 2005 Bail Act and ultimately the 2011 Amendment Act which we will soon consider, will be used to the greatest effect. Included in these powers afforded the Police on the grant of bail is the ability to prescribe electronic monitoring of offenders.

Madame President, I am advised that work is ongoing to identify the proper monitoring platform for the system and to ensure that when operative,it is fit for its intended purpose. This will greatly assist the police in deployment and management of resources and cause their efforts to be even more targeted against prolific offenders.

Madame President, I echo the sentiments of the Minister and of many others who have observed that we cannot legislate ourselves out of these problems. The principal purpose of the Ministry of National Security is to address the enforcement side of the equation.

However, as citizens we cannot blindly enforce without regard to the importance of the social circumstances in the community and the home, whose symptoms are displayed in senseless violence.

Madame President, the efforts of the helping agencies, the education system and most importantly individual parents and citizens are the most important preventative measures that can be adopted. Calls for stricter laws must be matched by calls for stronger parenting and for early intervention in schools.

No blind eye can be turned to these issues at any stage. This Government’s commitment to providing safer communities for Bermuda is not a singular effort; it is a joint enterprise of partners of all varieties, whose sole aim is to ensure a safe and successful Bermuda.

Thank you Madame President.

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Category: All, Crime, News