Jeff Baron made his first speech in the Senate since becoming Minister of National Security, focusing on the weekend’s tragic events.

He emphasised to colleagues the “harsh reality” of two families suffering the loss of their sons — 17-year-old Judah Burchall, who died in a traffic collision, and 26-year-old Patrick Dill, who was shot.

Senator Baron outlined the mandate of the Ministry of National Security to support the security services, in particular the Bermuda Police Service in their mission to keep Bermuda safe. He added that the community had a responsibility to provide police with any information they had to assist the investigations into the deaths.

“I echo the calls by the lead investigators for information and for witnesses to come forward,” Mr Baron said.

“No detail is too small or insignificant and what someone saw may make the difference in a difficult area of police work.

“There is a significant system in place to provide support to neighbourhoods that are directly impacted by gun violence.

“That system includes direct contact with residents, providing an outlet for their expressions of grief and anger.

“Much of this work is done away from the glare of the cameras but I wish to assure the public that resources have been deployed in support of this effort and full attention is being paid to the social and community side of the tragic shooting death of Mr Dill.

“Travelling on our roads has always been challenging. Too often we travel at speeds which are unsafe for us and for those also using the roads.

“As a country, we need to slow down, follow the rules of the road, exercise extra care every time we get behind the wheel of a car or on to a bike.

“The roads policing strategy of the police service continues to be a priority and I fully support their actions designed to reduce the unacceptable number of road traffic accidents.”

Mr Baron urged the public to be patient as the police work to deal with issues relating to safety on the roads and with respect to gun crime.