At the end of last year, there was a feeling that Bermuda might have gotten a grip on the wave of murders that shook the Island in 2010. Although there were shootings and incidents of violent crime, there were no gun murders for seven months, to the relief of many,Sadly that optimism, as cautious as it was, was misplaced. With three murders in the last nine weeks, it is clear that Bermuda’s gun and gang crime problem is as severe as ever.At the very least, there is no room for complacency. What is also of concern is that the scope of violent crime and the nature of the victims is changing.Whereas some of the early victims were clearly associated with gangs and crime, recent victims do not seem to be, although it is impossible to draw a full judgment.Some of the comments from the university football coach of the late Randy Robinson are especially chilling. He said other Bermudians on the team do not want to come back to Bermuda because of the crime, and that it was more dangerous not to be a gang member than to be in one.So people who make what most of the community sees as good choices about their lives are also the most at risk. This is madness, and it is symbolic of how values have been turned upside down by alienated youth, to the detriment of themselves and the whole community. That’s why it is critical that the Police not be held responsible for the upsurge in crime. And, again, in some recent cases, they have made some headway in their investigations.To be sure, there is still more that can be done, especially in terms of community outreach and crime prevention, which is one reason why the cut in the Police budget is so illogical. But the reality is that the crime wave is a community problem that requires solutions from the whole community.The degree of alienation from societal mores among some young people should terrify all right thinking people. That this should exist in an Island which is often held up as an example of economic success and social stability makes it all the more difficult to understand. That this should happen in an Island which was renowned for decades for its civility, peacefulness and low crime rate for decades is jarring for many older people.But it is the reality. A real crusade against guns and gang crime, and the illegal drugs trade which underpins it, is essential. The reality is that this will not be solved until the whole community gets involved. This newspaper and others have long advocated a programme like Operation Ceasefire as one means of tackling the problem through a combination of carrot and stick.But it will only work if the whole community gets behind it and makes it work. As long as people say that this a problem that only concerns young black males, or only concerns gangs and has nothing to do with the rest of the community, then it will not end.Instead, like a cancer, it will grow and spread and infect and destroy the whole community. When a community does not value life, it values nothing. That is not the community any of us should want to live in.