Former Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith's call for officers to be routinely armed sparked concern from community activists yesterday.

Among those fearing the move could only make the streets more dangerous were family welfare campaigner Martha Dismont and political activist Khalid Wasi.

Both warned it could trigger gun-wielding criminals to turn against Police officers.

Mrs. Dismont said: "Anger begets anger. These young individuals are already angry and committing crimes and are already isolated. It's throwing a fire on an already-burning something."

Mr. Wasi said: "I don't believe having the Police visibly armed to patrol the streets will do anything to deter the current spate of armed offences. I think arming the Police on patrol will have a reverse effect and expose them to a greater danger.

"To date, the armed conflict has been 'gang-on-gang'. I would send a word of caution to what could escalate into a 'gang-on-Police' gun war."–Mr. Smith's comments, first reported yesterday, came amid an upswing in reported gun offences. There have been at least three incidents in the last month, and a man who fired at Police officers in November but did not hurt them remains on the run.

Mr. Smith, who was Police Commissioner for five years until he retired in 2005, noted moves have already been made to protect officers through safety vests, batons, modern handcuffs and incapacitant spray. However, he noted that the public and criminals alike know that only a small number are trained and equipped with guns.

"I'd venture to say that we're at the point where more Police officers need to be armed and deployed. To have unarmed Police officers routinely coming into contact with armed criminals is akin to playing roulette. Roulette odds are not very favourable," he said.

Reacting to the news yesterday, Mrs. Dismont disagreed with the move if the rationale is to decrease violent incidents.

"All that does is make a Police state. It does not correct the problems that are making for increased violence in the first place," she said. "When it comes to Police protecting themselves, I think they have to do what they have to do.

"But I don't think arming Police, nor encouraging Police to be a little bit more assertive, is going to reduce the level of violence."

Mrs. Dismont added: "We have to be very careful. We've not been good as a community in preventing firearms getting into the country, so by increasing the number of guns we give ourselves more liability that they could get into the wrong hands."

Mr. Wasi, who unsuccessfully fought the Southampton West Central by-election in December as an independent candidate, said: "I can understand the use of armed weapons as is currently applied in a drug-bust and arrest. Perhaps the answer to the issue of showing adequate Police force lies in increasing that special unit response team (the Emergency Response Team) from 25 to 50 or some appropriate number."

Marsha Jones' only son Shaundae Jones, 20, was shot dead outside a nightclub in Dockyard in 2003. As with more recent shooting murders those of Jason Lightbourne in 2006 and Shaki Crockwell in 2007 no-one has been brought to justice.

Ms Jones sympathised with Police safety fears, commenting: "I don't know how a wife must feel, knowing her husband's out there on duty, knowing someone's got a gun and there's a possibility he might be shot. It's scary. No-one wants that phone call, I can tell you."

Ms Jones would like to see a "chosen few" armed officers ready to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to support their unarmed colleagues. However, she is against more guns on the streets, commenting: "I don't think they all need to carry them."

Shadow Minister of Justice Mark Pettingill said of armed Police: "That might be something that has to be considered in particular circumstances on particular patrols but it would be a sad day to see that in Bermuda."

Mr. Pettingill said the best way to combat violence is send Police into the communities to build relationships and gather information: "Otherwise the only time you see the Police is in the big van with guns."

Current Police Commissioner George Jackson said in 2006 that he would sanction regular armed patrols in future if he felt it was necessary to protect residents and visitors. He was invited to comment for this story, but a Police spokesman said he plans to address the topic at a press conference later this week.

Police Association chairman Carl Neblett wished to discuss the matter further before commenting. Public Safety Minister David Burch did not respond to messages.

Governor Sir Richard Gozney said: "For the moment I shall not comment on former Commissioner Jonathan Smith's suggestion, other than to say that I am confident that the present Police Commissioner would let Minister Burch and me know if he needed more support in making arms available to members of his Force when necessary."