THE Chamber of Commerce yesterday urged police to adopt a raft of recommendations it proposed to improve safety in bars and nightclubs.

The wish list, put forward by the head of the Chamber's Restaurant, Bar and Nightclub Division Philip Barnett, includes a regular police presence inside bars and restaurants and a clearer line of communication between officers and community members.

He acknowledged that some of the changes his members would like to see are impossible until the Police Service is restored to its full complement of staff in October.

In the meantime, some establishments have had to enforce entry restrictions to protect their clientele.

"Crime and public safety is number one on all the tips of our members' tongues," he said. "It's an ongoing concern and seemingly increasing due to the number of reported muggings, purse snatches and so on.

"The public needs to be made aware that bar owners have the right to refuse service just as anybody walking has the right to not come in. Obviously we do have bars with dress codes but there's the issue as well that some bars are struggling a bit.

"It becomes a choice a bar owner has to make ? do you serve anyone to make money or do you put your foot down and say absolutely not?

"Our concern is the lack of visibility on the ground, the absence of foot patrol. Police do not come inside our premises. They should do. It's good policing. But right now they're restricted unless they're instructed by their superiors or a crime is occurring.

"Every tourist would be very happy to see a policeman looking around for potential troublemakers."

Police media spokesman Robin Simmons countered that such measures are already in place, that officers make routine checks of the island's bars and nightclubs to ensure they are functioning in accordance with the Liquor Licensing Act.

"Checks of liquor licence premises are done now and on a regular basis by police," he said. "However, we have no authority to search an individual unless there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence has been committed.

"If an offence has taken place or anything is observed inside the premises that contravenes the Liquor Licensing Act, then police take the appropriate action."

However, the problems faced by such establishments don't always involve theft or violence, the Chamber head insisted. Owners and operators are often frustrated in their attempts to prevent patrons from being hassled by vagrants demanding cash.

"In order to deem trespassing as a crime, you have to send a registered letter to the (trespasser). In the case of a vagrant, usually the people who come in and hassle our customers, they have no home address," he explained.

According to Mr. Barnett, there has been limited dialogue with police towards resolving the issues faced. He said his members had seen promise with the appointment of an officer as the liaison for all liquor licensees, but "he came and saw us once. His duties had to be curtailed because the police are short on manpower.

"It's the same with the community policing initiatives. Neighbourhood Watch has fallen to one side. There's no one to initiate good feeling between the community and the Force. It blows my mind. It seems we're never getting to the point of solving the problems. The Chamber of Commerce has spoken publicly ? we've called for the replacement of officers and bringing the Force up to strength. What we've been told is October and we have to give them that time to put the staff in place."

He questioned whether the public should hold any confidence in police crime statistics saying a decrease in such figures could be a case where "crime is down or it could be that there aren't enough officers to catch the criminals.

"With an $80 million budget, surely they can find the money to properly staff (the Service). If the Mayor of New York City can have every officer in uniform, why do we only have a certain amount of beat officers? Why are there so many tied to desk jobs?

"We know it's a small percentage of the population causing the problems but when a small percentage affects the enjoyment of the majority of the community, we have a major problem. We are willing to help however we can.

"At the end of the day, we are fully on the side of the police. Bermudians need to understand that Bermudians are not as attracted to policing as they once were. We need Jamaicans, we need Barbadians, we need people from Canada and the UK. We need to bring in people here who are interested in making a positive impact on society and improving people's quality of life."