Enforcing the law

January 5, 2005

Dear Sir,

On Monday, January 3, 2005 you published a letter from Malcolm Sutherland in which he complained about the parking tickets issued as a result of illegal parking on South Road in Paget on December 25, 2004. The thrust of his letter was, in effect, that the Police Commissioner should exercise the “Christmas spirit” and “retract the $50 fines or at least offer to send the money to a worthy charity”.

It is important for your readers to understand the Police position in this matter. It is really quite simple and straightforward. 2004 saw an increase in public concern about the standard of driving on Bermuda's roads and the lack of compliance, in many instances, with the most basic of traffic and parking laws. Thousands of collisions were reported; several people were killed on Bermuda's roads - hundreds were seriously injured and perhaps several million dollars in damage was caused to vehicles and property.

It was very clear that the public had an expectation that the Bermuda Police Service enforce the law. Our enforcement efforts included the following: over 12,000 moving violation tickets were issued by the Bermuda Police Service during 2004. These tickets were for speeding and a wide variety of other driving and riding offences. In addition, over 31,000 parking tickets were issued by Traffic Wardens and Police during 2004. All of this was done in an effort to address community concerns about traffic and parking violations being committed on a daily basis by road users.

The Bermuda Police Service is very confident that each of those persons who parked their vehicles on South Road in Paget on Christmas Day in contravention of lawfully placed road markings and/or signs knew the potential consequences of such action. They took a risk - and a parking ticket was one of those consequences. The onus is on every driver/rider to comply with the law. If there was no parking available, then the onus was also on the driver/rider to take safe and legal measures to secure their vehicle. The Road Traffic Act does not provide for exceptional Christmas Day relief from traffic and parking offences.

If we, as a community, are to seriously tackle our complex road traffic problems then the law-abiding efforts of everyone - including those who wish to park illegally and sip champagne on the beach on Christmas Day - are required. In response to Mr. Sutherland's assertion that the Police enforcement of these parking violations was an example of “community policing at its worst”, then I will have to concede that we have a marked difference of opinion. Community policing is about addressing community problems and concerns. Non-compliance with traffic and parking laws are clearly community problems and we in the Service hear these concerns daily. There is evidence in our community surveys that traffic and parking problems are of concern to the majority of residents. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence in support of this too.

In response to Mr. Sutherland's plea that we should take another course of action I have this to say. The Police Service does not have the authority to “retract the $50 fines” and we certainly don't have the authority to “send the money to a worthy charity”.

The situation on our roads will improve significantly if everyone adheres to the traffic and parking laws. May I take this opportunity to wish all of your readers a safe and collision-free 2005 on our roads.

JONATHAN D. SMITH

Commissioner of Police

Act now ... or else

January 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

Somebody very soon is going to be killed because an inattentive, careless driver is using a cell phone. Why will this Government, for once, not be pro-active and make it illegal as in many other jurisdictions. I know this won't stop it completely but it will help. One life is too many.

NORTHERN SOUL

Smith's Parish

Government's donation

January 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

While individuals are to be highly commended for their generosity towards the victims of the southern Asia disaster, the $50,000 from Government cannot be considered as generous.

East Timor, one of the poorest countries in the world also gave $50,000 while Mozambique, an equally poor country, gave $100,000.

The Government of Ireland, for example, gave $13.5 million, approximately $4 per person, and this is being reviewed with a view to increasing it. By comparison, the Bermuda Government's contribution is about 80 cents per person.

The contribution should be increased to around $250,000.

To put this amount into perspective in this wealthy country, this is the amount which the BUT sought in its written fundraising appeal to pay just for Bill Cosby's speech at their dinner next month!

JOHN R. KANE

Devonshire