This island is in crisis because this government has not taken its responsibility to protect children, women and the vulnerable persons in this community from violence and injury suffered from those who choose to hurt people. Dangerous driving behaviour, including drinking and driving, has become the norm.

The increased number of crashes and injuries that road users and pedestrians have suffered could be reduced with increased police presence, harsher penalties in the courts and unannounced roadside sobriety tests.

This government cannot abdicate its responsibility to the youth in this island. There have been numerous videos circulating about children at school and in the community committing serious acts of violence. These same youths are at risk of becoming gang-involved and some may be associated with gangs already.

We have a gang tsar, a violence reduction strategy and a Minister of National Security who says this government is doing its best to reduce the numbers of murders — yet the murder count continues to rise.

There are 35 unsolved murders in this 21-square-mile island!

Where is the sense of urgency to dispense justice to put persons on notice that if you take a life, you will be held to account and you will pay the price? There is none. This government appears as if it has become desensitised to the deaths of young Bermudians owing to murders associated with gang involvement and dangerous driving habits that include drink-driving offences.

The sound of ambulance sirens has become all too commonplace.

We are a small island that is rapidly losing its soul because of a government that says it cares about Bermudians but doesn’t do anything meaningful to make this community safer. It is never going to be “fairer” if this island is not made safer — because it is Bermudians who are paying the price under a government that says it represents them.

On October 27, 2024, 17-year-old Ethan Arruda was stabbed to death while at a party when criminals were in the process of robbing him for his chain. Between 50 and 100 people were at the party, and to date the police have no suspects.

A culture has taken root and spread like cancer where loyalty is respected over honesty; where snitching is viewed as being a greater crime than murder has become the norm. This is not normal. This is not a “fairer Bermuda”.

On January 30, 2025, a convicted sexual offender whose crime was against a child had his conviction overturned because the perpetrator did not get a fair trial in a reasonable time — the trial took 21 months. In 2020, Kenneth Williams, who was found guilty of sex offences against a child under the age of 14, had his conviction overturned in 2020 owing to delays with his trial which took almost two years. Tell the victims and their families about your “fairer” Bermuda where the system as it currently operates protects the persons who cause harm and kill.

On March 14 this year, Jomari Gooden, 25, was convicted for possession of a loaded firearm, bladed article and resisting arrest received 14 years’ imprisonment.

How does this person receive a reduction in sentence when at the time of arrest he fled the scene and then further resisted being arrested? Persons could have lost their lives. The police officers in the carriage of their duties to protect us could have been seriously injured or killed while arresting this person. The simple answer is, because the law allows it.

The above is not an exhaustive list, but highlights the most recent examples of the flaws in our system that results in the needless death and suffering of persons in our community.

Twenty-one square miles and 35 unsolved murders since 2004? Unacceptable!

An understaffed police service? Unacceptable!

Choosing to send a police sergeant and two constables to Montserrat to participate in St Patrick’s Day celebrations does not appear to be a good use of resources when we have an understaffed police service.

The inference is clear if we are serious about making Bermuda “fairer”, we must also ensure that it is made “safer” — and this requires a review and overhaul of the criminal justice system.

However, we must first change our attitudes and beliefs about our priorities and purpose. There must be a strategic plan and performance measures that are data-driven to ensure that serious crime and crime in general are reduced.

Enough of the empty promises; the time for action is now!

• Robert King is the Shadow Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, and the One Bermuda Alliance MP for Smith’s North (Constituency 10)