Last week’s public meeting on crime was important on a number of levels.First, the mere fact that National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief and Commissioner of Police Michael DeSilva were sharing the same stage sent out a powerful symbolic message that the Government and the Police are working together. That is not to say that this was not the case before. But the fact they were together answering questions and listening to ideas for combating crime was a powerful image.Secondly, the fact that 275 people attended the meeting was also important. This was a good number for a meeting of this kind in the heart of the neighbourhoods where gun crime has been most serious.Only when the residents of these areas specifically and the community generally comes together and says that it will no longer tolerate gangs and gun violence will it stop. And that is what Mr DeSilva meant when he said: “If we as a community think it’s all over, then it’s all over.” That’s because the community has the power to end it.Third, there were good ideas presented from the floor and a clear message that those in attendance were fully engaged in the discussion.Fourth, Mr Perinchief and Mr DeSilva both showed a willingness to think “outside the box”, an overused piece of jargon, but appropriate in this case.Mr Perinchief’s idea about sending people to overseas prisons is not entirely new, but it is worth examining. But it also shows the lack of confidence that the public and the Government has in the abilities of Bermuda Corrections Service to punish and to rehabilitate.These concepts often conflict with each other and running a prison service with these joint actions in place is like trying to operate a gearbox where the teeth don’t quite fit together. This is not the fault of the Department of Corrections. But clear policy directions need to be set down where prison in Bermuda is seen as a real deterrent. Otherwise mandatory sentences and the like will mean nothing.Assuming imprisonment comes to mean something, Mr Perinchief is right to demand consecutive sentences for crimes. Too often, a person convicted of two crimes only serves time for one, because the sentence for the second crime is ordered to be served concurrently. Although there are times when concurrent sentences are sensible, too often they are handed out for no good reason.Mr DeSilva was also right to highlight the need for a three-phase approach to gangs, in which the Police, realistically, can only take full responsibility for one, the middle phase, of detection and prosecution of crime. The community must be responsible for the other two phases; the front end of persuading young people not to join gangs at all, and the back end of rehabilitating offenders and providing alternatives for those already in gang life.Mr Perinchief, as National Safety Minister has placed most of his emphasis on giving the Police the tools it needs to do the job, and on the punitive measures needed. But the time has come where he and the Government need to produce a strategy that will tackle the causes of gangs and gun crime and deal with them. Otherwise, this will be a war without end.