… but the police ‘hide’ in offices … the island’s new police chief hails from a country where, in many parts, ‘the balance of fear is shifting. Criminals are not afraid of the police and the courts. Normal people are afraid of wrongdoers’. The police in England, where Steve Corbishley previously was employed, are likened to BT (British Telecom) or other monopolies, which ‘view the public as a nuisance’. Today’s scathing attack on the state of law ‘enforcement’ and response, as opposed to preventative, policing can be found here. With guns being an almost daily part of Bermuda life, no-go areas, gang activity and citizens already intimidated, is Bermuda going the same way and does anyone care?
“The police need to take more action. They need to be more present. You can’t just drive through doing the speed limit. It makes them feel the police are afraid of them” (source – Friswells Hill: ‘A Town-on-Town gang problem’).
There is clearly a problem when, in a country that has a Freedom of Information Act, intended to empower the public and ensure transparency of Government, ‘applicants fear retaliation if they make Public Access to Information requests‘ (the Information Commissioner warned). This appears well-founded; the Act is restricted to residents … and on a 21 sq. mile island, there’s nowhere to hide.