Police presence in the parish.

The United Bermuda Party's Quinton Edness made the plea after the recent spate of crime in Warwick, particularly thefts from visitors at public beaches.

"Warwick Parish has a level of crime above the national average. We need more Police and a sub-station there.'' Mr. Edness pointed out that there were three crimes at Warwick beaches alone over the past weekend and this highlighted the need for increased Police presence.

Beaches, hotels, guest houses, visitors, locals and children needed the protection from "these kinds of vicious crimes,'' he warned.

"We need Police who are specially trained to patrol the beaches. I could go over to one of those beaches right now and find people nestled in the bushes waiting to rob somebody,'' he claimed. A round-the-clock Police sub-station was also needed to go along with an increased number of Police officers, he added.

And he noted that beach robberies were not the only problems the parish faced as drug abuse was also present.

"We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand,'' he stressed.

Warwick got a satellite Police station in June which is staffed by four parish constables and two reserve officers. When it opened, Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay praised the establishment and Mr. Edness and his running mate Government and Community Affairs Minister Yvette Swan's support in making it happen.

At that time, Mr. Edness noted that he had bigger plans and in August Police revealed that two locations were under consideration to become locations for a substation.

The Commissioner of Police has already given his support to the plan and Mr.

Edness called on Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Maxwell Burgess to back the idea and Finance Minister Grant Gibbons to come up with the money needed to make it work.

The torrent of crime would destroy the Island, he warned, as it would deter visitors from coming to Bermuda and encourage them to travel elsewhere.

"This is an urgent matter,'' he continued.

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