Just 35 percent of Bermuda's residents have confidence in Bermuda police to crack crime, a new survey indicates.The figure is even lower among young people.Among those aged 18 to 34, just 26 percent declare themselves as having faith in the service.The poll, conducted by Mindmaps between November 24 and December 6 showed that 28 percent of people in total said they were not confident or not at all confident in the police.A total of 37 percent of the 402 people polled fell into a middle bracket with no firm view either way.Confidence was higher among women (40 percent), and people aged over 65 (51 percent).However, it seems that the outbreak of shootings since May 2009 has had little impact on public opinion.A similar poll from March 2007 showed confidence in the police standing at 34 percent overall, with 25 percent in the 18-34 age bracket.The figures are just one percent different from the latest results. Both surveys were weighted to be representative of Bermuda's population, and the margin of error was 4.9 percent.Responding to the news, Shadow National Security Minister Michael Dunkley said: “Given the surge in gang shootings since May 2009, it is not surprising that confidence levels in the police are where they are.“The shootings, and the gang culture that give rise to them, constitute a major threat to Bermuda and Bermudians understand this in their bones.”Senator Dunkley added: “Until people feel the situation is contained and getting better, widespread concerns and anxieties will remain. The police have a difficult and complex job to do and it is important to understand they cannot succeed on their own. They need the people of this community to help them, whether as cooperative witnesses or as a Government minister making sure they have the resources to enforce all aspects of law and order.”Sen Dunkley said he agreed with Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva that recent convictions demonstrate the police have made some progress on the gang situation in the past year.However, he said: “This is a major community challenge and it requires broad-based community response, not just a police response.”Mark Pettingill of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance said: “We have some outstanding and dedicated officers on the Bermuda police force that need our support.“However it is not surprising that the public confidence in the force is low. That is a direct reaction to the crime problem that we have and the seeming inability to stem the tide of the problem.”Mr Pettingill said in order to address this: “The Bermuda Police Service must have all of the financial and legislative support that the Government can give it and we have serious concerns that this is not the case.”He cited as examples recent stories on the delay in the implementation of electronic tagging for criminals, and the delay in completing the new police station and magistrates' court building in Hamilton.“The police can only be as effective as the support they receive from the Government and of course from the public,” said Mr Pettingill.Asked for his view on the poll results, Governor Sir Richard Gozney said: “One can, of course, cut and dice in different ways the results of surveys of public opinion. I note that 72 percent of those questioned gave an answer in the top three categories [very confident, somewhat confident, no firm view] leaving only 28 percent in the bottom two, answering as ‘not confident'.The police did not respond to an invitation to comment on the survey and neither did Minister of National Security David Burch.