Bermuda must go ?back to basics? as it draws up new ways to stamp out gang violence.

American cop Sgt. Delacey Davis ? speaking to students, teachers and community leaders yesterday at the new Berkeley Institute ? said community policing needed to be at the forefront of the drive to curb a problem he claims is in its infancy.

He revealed a tactic he used to combat drug dealing on the beat in New Jersey, and suggested it should be introduced in Bermuda to claim parts of areas like Court Street and 42nd Street back for the community.

He said that he stopped arresting dealers on the dangerous streets of New Jersey because as soon as they were taken to the Police station to be booked, another just took their place.

?So I just followed them around,? he said, to applause from the audience. ?After a while they realised you are not leaving that area. It works.?

Earlier, he said every resident on the Island had a responsibility to make sure youngsters stayed out of the clutches of gangs.

?Children are reflections of us,? said Sgt. Davis. ?Some people do not want to hear about that. Children are copying what they see in adults.?

The cop told the audience he had taken in several children off the streets and helped turn their lives around. One spent four months in a young offenders? institution after stealing a cell phone from his home, but is now a successful college student.

He called on all Bermudians, including politicians, to follow suit. He admitted his proposal was ?ambitious?, but said people needed to ?think outside the box?. He added: ?We must choose if we want to invest in them. Children need role models.?

He said young people needed leadership in a hostile society where many families units had broken down, and stressed the importance of father figures. ?How does a young man learn to be a man if you do not put a man in front of him?? asked the anti-gang expert.

He said people had to get ?back to basics? and stressed the essential role of faith.

Sgt. Davis said gang members were young people ?crying out for help? from adults. They needed discipline at home, because that was something a gang environment provided.

And he said that youngsters had to be given responsibility to make decisions about their futures, before he asked what services were available for them on the Island when they needed help.

?You are at the cutting edge of addressing the problem,? he told the audience at the close of the Multi-Addiction Conference. ?There?s an opportunity here to bring about change. Bermuda, you have the solution right in your hands.?

Sgt. Davis, who has come to the Island as part of a $350,000 Government anti-gang action plan, told a meeting on Thursday how gang-lore was in its infancy in Bermuda. This gave the Island a golden chance to unite and take action to reverse the trend. Despite the influence of US culture, he said the solution to the problem needed to be Bermudian.

He will return to the Island next month when he will continue discussing his ideas with politicians and Police chiefs.