on visitors and locals. Commissioner Lennett Edwards says the Police Service will work closely with the hotels, social services and the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

Like just about everyone else in Bermuda, the Commissioner is concerned about the number of visitors who have been robbed and attacked this year. The Commissioner should be concerned and so should the rest of Bermuda.

Bermudians do not want an unsafe Country nor do we think they will tolerate an unsafe Country. A great deal of Bermuda's reputation as a top resort is based on the fact that it is safe when so many other places are not very safe.

Safety allows visitors to relax and enjoy a carefree holiday. Once visitors have to spend their leisure time guarding themselves and their possessions, then their enjoyment is curtailed.

More than that, the nature of a country's tourism changes when the country is no longer safe. You can only operate the kind of leisurely vacation Bermuda sells if the Country is safe. When visitors need protecting, you wind up with fenced and guarded resorts and visitors confined to protected beaches. Then the resorts themselves become the destination rather than the Country. People venture out only for such things as escorted sightseeing and, otherwise, stay within the confines of the resort which, to protect them, discourages them from going outside the complex. It will be a sad day for Bermuda when hotels erect the signs seen elsewhere....."Visitors are advised not to leave the hotel after dark''..... "Visitors are advised not to leave the hotel unescorted''...."Visitors are advised that it is not safe to be out alone after dark''.....All of those signs are real and would be disastrous for Bermuda because the cash flow would be restricted to the resorts and the larger resorts are all non-Bermudian owned.

However, we have a great deal of sympathy for Commissioner Edwards. His staffing was cut just at the time Bermuda was beginning to suffer an economic downturn. You do not have to be a genius at social science to know that when things get tough and jobs are hard to find, people under pressure turn to crime. They also often escape their pressures by turning to other things which can lead to crime, like drugs and alcohol. Thus it is almost impossible to believe that the size of the Police Force was cut at just the time it was needed.

Both political parties have to take the blame for the cuts because, while the United Bermuda Party did the cutting, the Progressive Labour Party had complained about the Police Force being too big and was still questioning the size of the Police Force on Friday in the House of Assembly.