Making gang membership a crime is a key way for Bermuda to tackle gun violence, according to an experienced investigator.John Hendley, a UK police officer with almost 40 years of experience, was helping Bermuda police crack murder cases until his role was axed in the recent budget.New Minister of National Security Wayne Perinchief has announced that he plans to put anti-gang legislation before the Cabinet for consideration.And asked how Bermuda can best tackle the problems it faces, Mr Hendley, 60, advocated the same thing.“It’s a relatively small number of people causing this particular problem. It’s a horrendous problem when you consider the number of murders per year per capita,” he said of the Island’s gun crime.“It makes Bermuda look like a very violent place on paper, but it’s 500 people causing a large amount of trouble.”Fourteen men have been shot dead in the past two years. No-one has been charged in ten of those cases.Mr Hendley believes anti-gang legislation would help to “attack the problem in its infancy”.He explained: “If you take out a gang leader, then the next time it will be easier to control.“They will have a leader with a lot less experience and you have a better chance of catching the next one.“And if you attack a problem in its infancy you have a better chance of catching people before they’re too bad to do any good to anybody.”When former Premier Ewart Brown first mooted anti-gang legislation two years ago, the police were not in favour of the idea.Dr Brown was hoping to mirror Bikie Gang laws in Australia, which make being a gang member a criminal offence and allow police to disrupt the rhythm of gangs. However, Assistant Commissioner Paul Wright said there are issues with enforcing laws that make gang membership a crime.“Anti-gang legislation creates an extra evidential layer. You don’t only have to prove that someone’s committed an offence but done it as a member of a broader group. That can make it more difficult,” he said.However, Mr Hendley said prosecuting gang membership should not be problematic “as long as you have stringent laws. You don’t want to take away people’s freedoms unnecessarily.“But you should look towards policing the minority. There are less than 500 gang members in Bermuda. Why should the rest of the 65,000 population suffer?”He also believes increased CCTV camera coverage would help tackle the problem.Mr Hendley was one of a team of ten consultants from the UK who were working on cracking Bermuda’s current and cold case murders until last month.UK consultants were first brought to Bermuda in late 2008 through the G4S security company to advise on issues such as cold case reviews and surveillance. Some of the same officers, supplemented by new ones, came back on an individual basis in January 2010 to concentrate on cold cases dating back 15 years as well as current murder cases.The team brought experience from major investigations in their homeland including Operation Trident, which tackles gun crime in London’s black community. Mr Hendley retired from his police career at the rank of Chief Inspector in 2003, having worked in the Midlands area of England.Since retiring, he’s worked as a consultant around the world, including stints in the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. The team of consultants is understood to have played a significant role in recent Bermuda cases where gunmen have been brought before the courts.However, they were told in early March that their contracts were not being renewed due to budget cuts. The last of them finished their jobs on April 1, although some left earlier due to uncertainly over whether their contracts would continue.“It was a little disappointing how it was dealt with at the end,” said Mr Hendley. “It was [announced] only a matter of weeks before we finished. That could have been dealt with better.”However, he understands that overseas consultants could not take precedence over local police officers at a time of budget cuts. “I came here as a contract worker and I fully accept they have to make decisions,” he said.