OBA: Police Need Adequate Funds
Opposition Leader and Shadow Minister for National Security Craig Cannonier spoke on the recently released 2011 crime statistics urging Government to give the “funds necessary for our police service to work effectively.”
“It is going to be interesting to see where the Government positions the police department in the budget,” Mr Cannonier said at a press conference.
“We need to put the funds where it is most needed, and one of areas is that we need that confidence back again in the community. We need to arm our police department with the best resources possible. They need the funds to get those resources going.”
“I want to commend the Police for their work in recent months. They’re making progress. They’re being proactive, they’re being tough and they’re getting convictions,” said Mr Cannonier in a statement.
“I also want to commend the people across the Island who have stepped forward to assist in the fight against crime, especially where gangs and guns are concerned.
Mr Cannonier continued on to say, “This takes courage, and it says people are not going to stand by and lose their community without a fight.This is perhaps the most important development over the past year – where individual citizens are saying ‘enough is enough’.
“Without public involvement, we will never succeed in the fight against crime. It is why we long urged the need to bring Operation Ceasefire to Bermuda because it so effectively brings the positive power of the community into the fight.
“Now, the headlines today say crime is down, but Bermuda is still a long way away from declaring any kind of victory. Crime is about more than a set of statistics.
“The issue of crime is about quality of life. About how safe you feel, not just for yourself but for your loved ones. Sure animal offenses are down but murder and sexual assaults are up. Sure indecency arrests are down, but burglary against homes and tourists are up. Theft and robberies are also up and we know that they are driven by our economy.
“The newspaper today reported that the Executive Director of Women’s Resource Centre said the Police statistics were “very strange” because the figures from the Sexual Assault Response Team showed a 50 percent year-on-year increase in sexual assault.
“The Director said this was an ‘alarming figure’ and she encouraged women ‘to be more aware of their surroundings, especially when they are alone.’ Again, crime is about more than statistics.
“It’s about freeing you and your family from the fear of crime that affects everything you do every day. People everywhere sense the change in recent years.
“We make sure to lock our doors. We worry about our children on the town. We have concerns about public gatherings, where before there were none. We wonder what may happen at football games – indeed some have been cancelled because of threats against players.
“We know parts of the Island are no-go zones for many. We know there are still plenty of guns out there, despite the recent police seizures. And we know there are still plenty of young men who seem willing to use them almost indiscriminately.
“The OBA is not willing to accept this situation as the ‘new norm’. We will continue to support strong focused Police action, and we will continue to encourage community support. We want a safer Bermuda, but we will have to continue working hard for it. That is a goal we can all share.
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Category: All, Crime, News, Politics
Ok whats your solution Bill
The question to be answered is, where are those needed funds going to come from?
How about raising revenue for a specific purpose as is done by our neighbours to the west? Send funds raised from traffic fines to the police budget. Actually seize & sell assets of drug dealers & give the funds raised to the police. Make those who use the police through their illegal activities actually pay for the police.
the governor has costs bda taxpayers over $1mill in salary alone.
PLP has cost us !.3 BILLION .
Regardless of whether you like the PLP or not, certainly you can agree they have helped the crime rate go down more than the Governor.
Technically, THE GOVERNOR is responsible for external AND internal security! Instead of marching on Cabinet/Parliament, people should certainly be criticizing the governor more often.
The Governor can’t even pass gas without the say so of the Bermuda Government first. who supplys the BPS funding?
Yes the Governor has certain powers used at his disgression. The current Governor has proved to be useless at just about everything that is in his remit to do.
I guess craig was tired on Bob getting all the headlines so he said something. As usual, he opens his mouth and makes no sense.
The Police have been fully funded, but leave it to Craig to say they haven’t.
The next article on Bernews is: Men on Bike Brandish Gun In Hamilton. At 5.30pm, outside the Police station.
Oh yeah, everything’s great. Completely under control.
CRAIG THERES NO MONEY…THE ONLY MONEY THATS AVAILABLE FOR THE POLICE IS WHATS CONFISCATED FROM THE DRUG DEALERS… (SING IT ) POLICE AND THIEVES IN THE STREETS ..OH YEAH .
I normally like what Craig has to say. But to say the police need more funding when the Commissioner revealed his own report saying that crime is down makes no sense. There are more important things to talk about then bringing up dead arguments from 2 years ago. Then again, this is just my own opinion.