Another weekend, another murder.The shooting death, almost assassination style, of David Clarke on Sunday night is yet another sign that the violent crime which has afflicted Bermuda for the last 18 months is not over and may be entering a new phase.It also needs to be recognised that it is beginning to seriously hurt Bermuda’s reputation and therefore its economy. It might be said that this pales in comparison to the loss felt by the families and friends of those who have been killed, but the reality is that a rising crime rate can and will cause a spiral in all aspects of Bermuda life, and will exacerbate the same impulses that have caused these killings. Just look at New York City in the 1970s.The police are doing a good job in difficult circumstances. Arrests are being made and convictions achieved. And the Police cannot be expected to know where and when murders are going to happen. They can only try to solve them.There is a risk that the Police and the community generally are becoming deadened to the drumbeat of crime and murder and there is less urgency now than there was a year ago when Bermuda was hit with a similar series of murders.It is also true that the locations of the murders are changing. Where a year ago they were largely concentrated in an area of about one square mile in Pembroke, now there have been murders in North Shore, Pembroke, Devonshire and Somerset. This makes it less easy for the police to flood an area with officers as a deterrent.For that reason, new tactics and approaches are needed. One is to raise the penalties for gun crime even further and to make the sentences mandatory with no time off for good behaviour. The strongest possible deterrent is needed, short of capital punishment, which this newspaper still opposes.It is also time to seriously consider anti-gang legislation, without which other measures may not work. Lawyer Kevin Comeau and others have done a good deal of work on this; their proposals need to be taken up and enforced. The fact that a Hamilton bar was forced to close because it became a gang hangout shows how intractable this problem is becoming. It has to be accepted by all that this is a community problem that has to be solved by the community.To that end, the fact that the Pembroke churches are coming together for a Good Friday Service and community football game at Victor Scott Primary School field, the site of a murder last year, is to be welcomed and supported. Those living in fear of gangs need to know they are not alone.But that’s not enough. Churches cannot do it on their own, and should not be expected to, any more than the police can. Nor can schools and teachers. But institutions like schools and churches can and should take central roles, not least because they are often the most stable and unifying institutions in their areas. Other organisations, such as the Emperial Group which is working on “Sounds of Sanctuary” need to be involved as well.And as Michael Dunkley of the United Bermuda Party said this week, it is critically important that the economy turns around and starts producing good jobs which will also encourage young people to pursue careers and not gang and criminal life. This is also where education must play a part. Ensuring that young men and women remain in school and get the skills and training they need to be productive members of society is the long term solution to this crisis.In the short term, this newspaper again encourages all those who may have seen or heard something about the murder of Mr Clarke or about other serious crimes that have not yet gone before the courts to come forward and tell the police what they know.Not doing so will dishonour the memories of all of those who have died.