Vexed Bermoothes

Contradicting the PLP’s pre-election claims, the Police were brave enough to admit this week that Bermuda is facing a growing crime wave.

Criminal behaviour and Police action on crimes are up sharply across the board – from burglary to violent assault to car theft. I attribute this to several things:

• Bermuda’s culture of unaccountability. There are so rarely consequences in Bermuda to negative behavior, from the top down. Nuff said.
• Drugs drugs drugs drugs.
• Failed education system, particularly for young males.
• Poor funding of the Police (although a law and order clampdown alone will not solve the problems).
• Government makes populist statements but functions as an oligarchy, leading to intense frustration. As a friend of mine said: “I hear their words and I am impressed. But then I see what they do and I really wonder.”
• Lack of drugs/life counselling in the prisons or rehabilitation programmes both during and after.
• Government policies that have widened the salary gap in Bermuda and heightened financial pressures on the working poor.
• Lack of focus on the nuclear family in our community, with the ongoing growth of single parent households.