Drug Problem

 BERMUDA POLICE.COM POLICING & CRIME ON THE ISLANDS OF BERMUDA

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Of course you have no drug problem .... 

you appear to be suffering from a delusion brought on by a lack of alcohol, you have a serious drug problem, your police appreciate this but seem unable to address it.  Mind you, if the public understood the problem and the reality or facts were not kept from them, possibly you would stand a better chance of addressing the issue:

Police step up drugs battle (The Royal Gazette Ltd)
Bermuda, May 11, 2001

 Comment
Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith yesterday said the force would be throwing extra weight behind the fight against drug abuse from now on. So now your a a force, not a service.  Why, if there is not a serious problem would drugs require EXTRA attention?
the narcotics department was no longer a specialised CID unit, but was now a division on its own, which gave it higher status. it never was.  It remains a plain clothes unit, a collection of individuals thrown together, each with their own agenda.  High status?  Oh really!  Is the Bermuda public really to be conned by a change of name?  How simplistic - a cheap stunt.
With an increased narcotics budget this year, and a Police focus more on operational issues, the department is to receive additional support in the coming months. Hopefully the support will come from within and there will be a concerted effort to remove those whose sole intention is to benefit at the expense of others.  But wait a minute - Larry Smith is in charge - Mr. Vindictive.  What a superb 'service' - Action(less) Jackson, Larry Malicious Smith and Carlton mind-your-back Adams.  A case of lighting the touch paper ... now stand back and wait.
Mr Smith said "That may not mean that extra officers are drafted into the department of 33, but it could mean that the needs of the department, and its operations, are given more of a priority" 33?  More than in the early 90's - so things have become worse!
"What we have done to enhance the operational effectiveness is look to work more closely with Customs. We have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Customs that incorporates a group of Customs officers and a group of Police officers forming a team to tackle drug interdiction." there is a lack of respect from the Customs department.  The Narcotics department incorporates overseas officers who have some idea of investigation.  Until such time as the Customs Department employ professional, able, staff they will continue to be looked down upon.  The divide undermines everyone's effectiveness.
Mr. Smith said the fight against drugs was two-pronged. He said both the supply of drugs needed to be reduced, which was a Police and Customs task, but so did the demand for drugs, which was an issue for many agencies, including the treatment and prevention clinics and charities. Supply and demand again - good old economics raises its head.  The price remains the same, the headlines and court appearances are hackneyed - the island is failing the Bermuda public.  
Head of the narcotics unit Superintendent Larry Smith said he, too, believed narcotics would be further up the agenda of the new senior management team, which have taken over the top three jobs from April this year. Well down Larry - follow the flock - it's far easier than having an original approach or thought.  So what happened over the ast 10 years - did everyone just forget about drugs?  All of a sudden hear no (Larry), speak no (George) and see no evil (Carlton) have the solution?  Give me a break!
Supt. Smith said: "I think the new administration is going to be more supportive of the narcotics department than previous administrations. I think possibly between the three of them, they (their backgrounds) are more practical. So for the past 10 years the administration has not been sufficiently supportive of the narcotics department?  The administration has previously been impractical?  Adams, Jackson and Smith ... a panacea?  Someone is having a laugh at the expense of the Bermuda public.

Blame it on heroin: Police say resurgence of drug linked to rise in crime

The Royal Gazette Ltd Bermuda, April 27, 2001

A massive influx of heroin into the Island has been blamed for a 20 percent hike in crime for the first three months of the year.

The Royal Gazette revealed on Tuesday that narcotics and Customs officers had already exceeded last year's confiscation rate of $7 million, by seizing $8.3 million worth of illegal substances in the first three months of the year alone.

However, in the last two days, there has been another major seizure of heroin with a street value of about $1.4 million.

And head of Bermuda narcotics, Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith last night said that in the last day he had carried out a full breakdown of seizures for this year and calculated that a massive $12.4 million worth of drugs had now been confiscated since the start of the year. That means Bermuda is set to, at least, double its seizure rate of last year by the end of 2001.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr. Smith said he believed the sudden rise in crime during the first quarter this year was down to the enormous increase in the use of heroin.

Comment: no, it's down to the inability of the island's police to tackle the problem - drug dealer's see Bermuda as an easy touch despite it having the greatest number of police officer's per head of population in the world!  Possibly the statistics are a iny indication taht the police are not doing their job?  

He said the correlation between the number of heroin seizures both at Bermuda International Airport and on the streets, and the hike in property crimes, could not be ignored.  He said he was unable to predict whether this year's trend would continue - but in previous years the first three months of the year have been known to be the quietest for crime. Usually, as the temperature increases, so does the frequency of crime.

During the first three months of this year there have been 710 incidents of crime.  This is in comparison to 593 incidents during the same period last year, and 694 during the first quarter of 1999.  And the number of grievous bodily harm complaints has shot up this year to 16, from just seven last year. However, in 1998, there were 18 reports of GBH during the first few months of the year.  Other areas of concern are handbag snatches. This year there were 14 during the first three months, five of them on tourists. In previous years, the number has been minimal.  Housebreaking has almost doubled this year, from 74 during the first quarter of last year, to 140 this year. Store-breaking and attempted break-ins have also increased.  And the theft of motorcycles has also risen, going from 108 in the first three months of last year, to 155 so far this year.

Assistant Commissioner Carlton Adams, who is responsible for all Police operations, said there was a 19.7 percent increase in crime on last year.

Comment: oh to be a criminal in Bermuda! ... what has changed such that the crime would soar.  Let's all think .... have criminals become that much more clever, are there that many more addicts (they required a drug to become addicted), have the statistics for the past years been massaged, or could it be that criminals perceive Bermuda to be an even softer touch?  Massive profits and an inability to prosecute suppliers (as opposed to mules) must make the isalnd seem a paradise ... but we've been syaing that for years.

However, he said the figures had to be looked at in comparison to each of the figures for the same period during the last six years, rather than just 2000.  And, he said, when compared to every quarterly figure since the start of 1998, the latest figure is not that bad. He said: "Although our total crimes are up on last year, it's not as bad as it has been in the past.

Comment: Oh, we can all relax - pick a year when the crime was worse and compare the statistics to that - simple.  The Bermuda police will continue to operate not he basis that they must always perform better than their worse year and that an increase in crime is not bad.  Well done guys, you fought crime well last year, take a year off!!!  Just how can anyone take Larry Smith seriously?  

"It's not been as bad as it could have been and we anticipate that with our continued efforts, we will be able to stop it from escalating further. "Mr. Smith said that last year, there were just over 14 homes broken into for every 1,000, but for the first quarter this year, that has risen to 21.1 per thousand.  And last year, there were 36.6 motorcycles stolen for every 1,000, but during the first three months of this year, that figure has risen to 38.1.However, he said there was good news on road accidents so far this year.  The daily collision rate has fallen from 7.5 per day for last year, to 6.65 per day this year.  And with those figures comes a reduction in injuries caused by road accidents. Last year there were 2.79 injuries a day, in comparison to 2.14 this year.

Comment:  No Mr. Smith, it was not as bad as it could have been.  If you'd kept both eyes closed, tied your hands behind your back and tried to solve all your crimes using a psychic, the figures would probably be worse (please tell us the aforementioned tactics were  not employed).  

Good news:  the drug supply is so plentiful that people can now afford to stay at home and get stoned.  No longer do they need to drive about to get their next hit - hence the good news on the roads and decline in accidents.   Please excuse the lapse - the correlation between drugs being freely available and the decrease in road casualties smacks of the Larry Smith school of creative accounting and statistical analysis.

Mr Smith, you are making fools of the Bermuda public.

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