Police To Use Powers To ‘Disperse Groups’
[Updated with video] Starting from this Thursday [May 31] police officers will begin exercising powers afforded to them under Section 110 of the Criminal Code to disperse groups, and any person who refuses to disperse will be arrested and appear in Court, the police said. The maximum penalty is a fine up to $2,500 and/or 3 months in prison.
Acting Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell said Cambridge Road and Somerset Road areas — also referred to as “Gun Alley” — have “presented challenges to the Bermuda Police Service, “and that the area is used as a meeting place for men who do not live in the area, some of which are associated with the MOB gang.
Mr Cardwell said that some Cambridge Road area residents are living with “daily intimidation caused by these men,” who block the road or delay the free passage of the residents when they are returning to their homes, sell and use illicit drugs, use offensive language and more.
He also noted that visitors to our island and who are staying at guest accommodations and must travel along Cambridge Road have reported that they have experienced similar offensive behaviour, that “does not shine a good light on Bermuda generally.”
Starting at 8am this Thursday [May 31] police officers will begin exercising police powers afforded to them under Section 110 of the Criminal Code to disperse groups. This authority will be exercised on Somerset Road between Broome Street and Cambridge Road, Cambridge Road and any public place contiguous to these roads.
With effect from Thursday, “police officers will give an oral instruction to the men who congregate in these areas to immediately disperse and to not return for the duration of this authority,” said Mr Cardwell.
“Any person who refuses to disperse or who returns having been told to previously disperse can expect that they will be arrested and placed before the next sitting of the Magistrates’ Court. The maximum penalty on conviction for an offence of this nature is a fine up to $2,500 and/or imprisonment for up to 3 months.”
Acting Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell full statement follows below:
Good morning. With me here today are, Mr. Philip Barnett of the Cambridge Road Community Group and Ms. Dawn Simmons of the Sandy’s Parish Council. This Community Group was formed in partnership with the Bermuda Police Service through our Community Action Team (CAT) representative PC Valerius Jean-Louis and is a dedicated group made up of area residents.
Cambridge Road and Somerset Road areas have for some time now presented challenges to the Bermuda Police Service. The areas have for a long time been a meeting place for men who do not live in the area.
Some of these men are associated with the MOB gang that everyone in Somerset has heard of. The Cambridge Road area is sadly also referred to as ‘gun alley’.
I recently attended a meeting of the Cambridge Road area residents and I listened as they explained to me that they are living in fear and live with daily intimidation caused by these men.
These men sit at the entrance to Cambridge Road and block the road or delay the free passage of the residents when they are returning to their homes. The men are seen to sell and use illicit drugs which is supported by the drug seizures and drug possession arrests that have occurred in the area.
The men use offensive language towards the area residents and their behavior under the influence of drug and alcohol causes intimidation.
I have reports that visitors to our island and who are staying at guest accommodations and must travel along Cambridge Road have reported that they have experienced similar offensive behaviour that does not shine a good light on Bermuda generally.
Unfortunately, despite the increased law enforcement of the area; this has not reduced the level of fear and intimidation suffered by the residents. When the police leave, these men return to their appalling conduct that causes alarm and distress. Everyone will appreciate that this is unacceptable.
Continuing to work in partnership, the Bermuda Police Service has consulted with the Department of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General’s Chambers.
As a result of the guidance received, I am in my capacity as the Western Area Police Commander announcing that with effect from 8am Thursday, 31st May I have given authorization for police officers to begin exercising police powers afforded to them under Section 110 of the Criminal Code to disperse groups.
This authority will be exercised on Somerset Road between Broome Street and Cambridge Road, Cambridge Road and any public place contiguous to these roads. In accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Code, a notice to this effect will appear in both the Royal Gazette and the Bermuda Sun, together with a map.
With effect from Thursday this week, police officers will give an oral instruction to the men who congregate in these areas to immediately disperse and to not return for the duration of this authority.
Any person who refuses to disperse or who returns having been told to previously disperse can expect that they will be arrested and placed before the next sitting of the Magistrates’ Court. The maximum penalty on conviction for an offence of this nature is a fine up to $2,500 and/or imprisonment for up to 3 months.
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This is reminiscent to post riot days illegal gathering of two pr more persons and UBP style loss of liberties the PLP are still furthering. When will people stop letting them take away their rights “Public Space” is for the use of the “Public” are not those that hang out part of the public. Anything already illegal the police can use what powers they have already to deal with it.
LOL just my thoughts the parameters must be defined and clarified further.
This as is could be abused way to easily. People need to know your rights and how police should handle the public and the laws around that interaction.
I think the explanation is clear. This action cannot be taken in a blanket form. This has to be done via a notice in the newspaper with a map, and then the police can enforce the action.
It’s not open to abuse and it only applies to the specific area mentioned. If you were from the area, you would understand.
I agree, public space is public space, but if you are impeding progress of residents and acting in a threatening and intimidating manner then you are causing a nuisance, and that is why we have laws.
Finally, the PLP do not control the police! This is a police action. The PLP did out the law in place in the case that the police need it. Its been in place for over 2 years now, but is being used for the first time.
ITS ALL LIES.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @INT NO TOURIST BEEN ROBBED, AINT NOOOOO TOURIST BEEN DISREPECTED, THA LAME A&S POLICE ARE USING THIS 2 MESS WIF YOUNG BLACK MEN. U ASK ANNNNNNNNYYYYYYY RESIDENT IN DAT AREA IF THEY HOUSE BEEN BROKEN INTO., THEY WIILLLLLLL TELL U NO, & WHY U THINK THAT?! SMH ITS ALL F%$KIN LIES. TOURIST COME THRU & THEY R TOLD WITH A FRIENDLY SMILE “THAT IF THEY ANNNNNYYYY TROUBLE WHILST IN BDA, U COME & LET US KNO” & THEY CONTINUE ON WITH A SMILE KNOWING THEY ARE IN THIS AREA…………… THEY NEEDA GO THA F$#K HAMILTON …. THA POLICE AND THIS B$#@ A$# GOVERNMENT AINT NOBODY STANDIN UP 4 RIGHTS THINKIN THIS GONE HELP.,……. ITS NOOOOOTTTTTTTTT
You are obviously one of the men causing the problems, and not from the area. I am from the area. I have been broken into four times. The neighbours in the neighbourhood watch group listed combined break ins of over 20. Tourists are petrified when walking or riding through the area, and Cambridge Beaches has to embarrassingly tell them not to go that way. Children are fearful. It is not a societal norm.
With all due respect Sir, stop your nonsense. Move, go home, go to work, just GO.
What area fool?! u prolly talkin bout somerset as a whole.., where the boys hang hasn’t been ANY Break in., u like tha police tellin lies 2 tha public, lay down we AINT GOIN NOWHERE. Go stick ya head in d sand
Translation anyoooooooonnnneeeee?
It is about time the police started using the powers that they have been given. Hopefully the court system will follow suit and not make a mockery of it…
I would say the police have been using their powers they are not just starting.
Just in case you don’t know it’s a wright way and a wrong way to aproach a person not just bully them around because you are a police officer n yes i have seen it.
There is also a right way and wrong way to spell. I say 3 cheers for the police. I’m sure they would rather not have o do this.
Sooooooooooo why has this information been shared – shouldn’t it have been kept quiet, now these persons will vanish until they feel the police think they have stopped congregating.
Gangs do not need to know what the police are up to – when, where and why/how – these guys have their look outs and cronies, they probably knew this sometime ago and more. Geesh!!!
I doubt these knuckleheads know how to use computers and/or read the news.
Nothing to worry about.
Really though Ryan…I mean come on not everyone that sits on a wall is a knuckle head you sound real simple and small minded…I live along that area an to be honest with you majority have been abroad to school w/ degrees and some even attended Saltus…but I find it hard to believe that only somerset area is having these problems…
S.N.A F U….. can you imagine a gang calling themselves MOB ( MONEY OVER BITCHES ) that are causing all of these problems ? and have been getting away with this crap….
Sooooooooooo why has this information been shared, shouldn’t it have been kept quiet, now these persons will vanish until they feel the police think they have stopped congregating. Gangs do not need to know what the police are up to – when, where and why/how – these guys have their look outs and cronies, they probably knew this sometime ago and more. Geesh!!!
Can we start with the gathering at Parliament. I’ve seen from the last few years, they’re up to no good. Tell them to disburse before they affect the rest of us.
Is this being enforced around the island, or speciffically to the area they mentioned above? And suppose a group of ppl are congregating but nothing illegal is going on, will they be forced to disperse as well?
So its takes an election for them to start this? What happens after the election?
THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CONTROL THE POLICE RORY………VOTE PLP
No but they write, debate and pass the legislation that the Police enforce…including this one
And the change to the law was passed in 2009!
after the election there will be a new leader !!! and it will not be Cox.
I see it weekly and they do not do this now i can assure you. I hope they do as it will make a big difference and they unruly might start to listen and respect the Police again. One can only hope
This must happen around the island to take our streets back. The police have a hard job but they must do there job as well.This law has been in place yet they have not carried it out for years. Why is the real question? Better late than never. Keep calling the police when you see this and the commishoner if they do not.Island wide . Keep up the pressure
Frank shut up you hypocrite. We in the west know what you are really about. Smh
this is f%$in nonsense
if arnold’s stopped selling the individual beers and miniatures then people wouldn’t gather outside his shops.
The law says Arnolds Liquor store and others can sell singles and minutures.Why should i not sell them? The majority af the sales of these are to regular people thru out the island i promise you this is the same in all Liquor stores on the island.
How about this idea,the police and the courts do there job and arrest people for drinking in the public as the law states.That is the real question everyone should be asking.
Prime example is this-under Section 110 of the Criminal Code to disperse groups, and any person who refuses to disperse will be arrested and appear in Court, the police said. The maximum penalty is a fine up to $2,500 and/or 3 months in prison.
Why have they and why are they not doing this thru out bermuda. That is the real question and what all Bermudians should be demanding to take back the streets and The Police force respected or delt with by the authorities as they are every ware else in the world.
they should start doing their jobs. arrest everybody coming out of an arnold’s store that drinks their single beer on the side of the road. then use that to object to the store’s liquor licence when it comes up for renewal. great idea for an election year, i can suggest this to the candidates in my area. you don’t see people hanging outside of the market place or lindos, maybe because they don’t sell singles and use it as a cheap bar
Why would you stop selling single bottles of beer and miniatures??? Maybe for the same reason that almost every other grocery has stopped….because it encourages a certain element to sit outside of your store and drink the single bottle of beer that they just bought from you… Use some common sense and be a part of the solution and not the problem. And that at this point, Arnold’s is a part of the problem. Seriously, a single bottle of beer? People that buy a single beer, walk across the street or sit on your property and drink it, or they open it in their vehicle and drink as they drive. Yes, you are part of the problem.
Wat about the people that buy 3 beers (not wanting the 6 that comes in a pack) and takes it home to drink?! Arnold is right stop blammin him and start blammin the police who um sure drive cross and see the same males we see yet do nothing about it
Why you guys hating on Arnolds?
He’s running a business.. and when I want a beer or two for $4 and not 6pack for $15 I go to arnolds and take it home.. how is Arnolds part of the problem? Because 3% of their customers that buy liquor sit around by the establishment? And all the drunkies that do that are all like old and in their 40′s-50′s…
All the young mofos causing the trouble are sitting in their ratty 1 bedroom apartments with their coke, weed, and guns thinking they are kings.
Everyones looking for someone else to blame. How about you just stop blaming other people, and blame people that are actually doing the stupid sh!t.
I agree with you Frank.
Why aren’t they not doing it outside of cafe Cairo Frank?
Evenings driving thru Bailey’s Bay to Tony’s the number of guys in the little parking lot is increasing seems daily. No liquor should be sold if the persons are going to be congregating on the property.
At best this can be considered a stop gap measure. Most people accept the notion that GUMMINT and its agents such as police, is responsible for addressing all problems. Not true. They are meant to act on behalf of the people as deterrents and enforcers of the law. It is the people’s responsibility to create a society filled with individuals who know how to behave. The ineptitude of the police to deal with people produced by Bermuda at large, can’t blamed on the police. Further, reliance on them will bring the false sense of security that keeps families in Bermuda producing good for nothing individuals.
In other words, nothing short of changing the culture will suffice and that is YOUR job, no one else. If you think this new tactic will change the social landscape, think again.
So what now? Coming to a wall near you….
Here we go again with more of our rights being stripped from us. We might as well just get it over with and become a fascist police state.
Have you even read the law. Doesn’t sound very facist to me. If you were a resident you would think differently.
There is nothing wrong with being on the wall. There is something wrong with harassing persons. This isn’t to disperse crowds everywhere, it is narrowed to a certain place.
Ah but laws exist already to deal with this the problem is the people are afraid to take their neighborhoods back from people causing issues some of those that are their children. To do this they need to break the silence and talk to the police. This is a reaction of the police to unofficial complaints in other words people are not pressing charges. Also the UBP after the riots made it against the law to publicly congregate in public places for fear of possible riot action lets speed up to the times and now we’ve given power to the police to arrest people, say protesters protesting Government this could end in loss of freedom of speech…. This is as much the people in the neighborhoods fault as the guys in “gun ally”.
LOL
LOL. Alright Family Man. I love it. I am with you. Start from the top and work down.
Nice way to encourage the cancer to spread to an area near You .
I was training in NYC from “pop pop pop” right outside the gates 1994 –> through the great Mayor Guliani’s term in office. He cleaned up NYC by outlawing loitering and panhandling…. take care of the small stuff, so that larger stuff like mugging, burglery, and drug dealing is minimized.
NYC Mounted Police are excellent at spotting trouble and calling immediate response to eliminate trouble before it goes down…. not only is the officer seated high off the ground with excellent sight, sound, and smell capability, his carefully selected and trained horse has instinctive sense for any form of trouble, preditory behaviour, etc and can communicate his mounted officer in an a raise of his fuzzy head or raise in his breathing or heart rate. Trained police horses are excellent at herding unruly humans in crowd control situations as well. From a family of horsemen of many generations, I would be happy to volunteer to patrol my neighborhood on horseback as part of my neighborhood watch, and I am sure other horsemen all around the island would be pleased to contribute to community safety in a similar manner… with a little mounted police know-how and drill training for us & our horses, we horsemen could make a great presence to assist the police.
Harass Harass Harass & Disperse is the right thing to do. Put horses and drug dogs to work alongside the police. If we prohibit the street-side gang lookouts, meetings, we prevent the drug dealing, and other crime planning going on there. It is how Mayor Guliani succeeded in making NYC safe for all residents again. It is extremely promising to make Bermuda safe & pleasant for everyone again.
Bermuda College is free tuition for Bermudians. Boys have no financial barrier to enrolling for GED or college associate’s degrees there & making themselves more employable. If you need police escort to get to class and home safely, call for it, ask community members to escort you, do what you have to to get your education and move on from the streets. This is your one & only life. Mind each moment wisely. It is easier to be productive & pleasant than it is to be unproductive & rude. Find a mentor in a successful business. Don’t chose hip hop rappers who are in jail as your mentors, unless that is where you wish to spend your one precious life. Be real. Be kind. Work & respect yourself, your neighbors, family, all persons. Respect Bermuda, your God given home nation. Don’t litter, pick up litter when you see any. Respect your environment and all the souls in it.
I feel like this WILL be abused by the police. It Seems to me that Bermuda police force cant handle their country and are making unnecessary laws. So are you saying that i cant walk around with three friends ?? what type of BS is that come on really?
step by step you fools will lose your civil liberties thinking that its being done for your benefit…WAKE UP people, Elitist Global Policies hitting little old Bermuda…..USA is now a military state …so why not us huh?tsk tsk..
Those guys who sit outside of Belvins(the old Tonys) down in Baileys Bay day in and day out are not able to even afford to buy a six pack, let alone a single one. They beg for money and cigarettes. Yet they still congregate there, harrassing paying customers,, can something be done about them?
“The rule applies to groups of two or more in public places where harassment, alarm, intimidation or distress has been caused to members of the public.”
‘Any’ gathering by any persons of 2 or more will is now against that law. We need to be careful what we wish for.
Loitering
Panhandling
Solicitation
all illegal in every civilized community
all counterproductive to a peaceful safe community
police mind the law and mind the peace for ALL persons
laws are necessary to keep a civilized community safe for all
idle hands make devils work
gathering and “hanging out” is perfectly legal in any PRIVATE place
PUBLIC places are for purposeful walking & clear passage for all persons without ANY harrassment
Jus have to laugh at the comments i have read. Most of them come from people who are stuck believing everything they read. I assure you what the police has said are Lies Lies and more Lies. Then again thats all the government do Right? To Ryan.. the guy guy who said these knuckle heads cant read and right.. it goes to show your character and jus how SMALL minded you are in a SMALL MINDED society. Come out Bro and stop living in the Media. And to Frank Arnold… U have a lot of nerve to comment.. considering u have ****ed the public for years