Last week’s visit by Governor George Fergusson and Families Minister Glenn Blakeney to Boston is a welcome move in the right direction for dealing with gang violence.This newspaper has long advocated adopting the Operation Ceasefire model for dealing with gang violence, which was pioneered in Boston, along with a range of other anti-crime initiatives which have had some success.Even a cursory examination of the programmes being conducted in Boston show that one strategy alone will not solve the problem.Thus, the Safe Streets programme, which Mr Fergusson and Mr Blakeney, along with Permanent Secretary Wayne Carey, looked at, is an important preventative approach which has to be undertaken in conjunction with Operation Ceasefire. Similarly, Boston has another scheme called Homefront, which deals with families of young people who have been caught up in crime or negative behaviours.These different tools involve the police, but are not limited to the police. All are collaborations with other agencies, from schools to social services to youth agencies, and all also have involvement from wider community, including churches and youth groups.Close collaboration between these groups, and between the different strategies, is essential if they are going to work. If they work in isolation, a programme like Operation Ceasefire, which carries with the threat of punishment along with the promise of a way out of the gangs, will not work if an option like Safe Streets, which is akin to community policing, is targeting the same young people.In Bermuda, this should not be too difficult to coordinate, but the risks of bureaucratic infighting and the left hand not knowing hat the right hand is doing are real and need to be avoided.That’s why Mr Blakeney, as chairman of the Inter-Agency Gang Task Force, has an important role. He sits on this committee along with Premier Paula Cox, Attorney General Kim Wilson and National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief and they should be able to solve many problems at that level. But cooperation between their Ministries, the police and outside groups will inevitably have to take place at a lower level, and it is there that constant communication is needed.What should also be clear is that action is needed, and soon. There have been three gang-related murders this year and steps need to be taken before any more lives are lost.It is also very welcome news that Government House and the Government are working together on this; it has not always been the case in the past.As Mr Fergusson said: “I think that in Bermuda although these issues run across constitutional lines we have here between the Governor’s responsibilities and the responsibilities of the elected Government.”That means that they won’t be solved unless there is cooperation. That does not mean that Government House should meddle in areas that are clearly the Government’s responsibility, and vice versa. Goodwill and mutual respect can overcome a great many of the difficulties.It was also good to see Mr Blakeney say: “There was clear recognition of the need for and importance of preventive measures to bring about long-term positive outcomes for youth.”As has been stated before, the police can arrest and convict perpetrators of crime, but they cannot do as much about the conditions that lead to crime, and this cannot be their primary function either. Prevention must take place in the whole community, but will only succeed if the Government gets behind it.Mr Blakeney made one other notable comment when he said: “The kind of violence and antisocial activity that we have seen in our community in recent years is not Bermuda; it is not Bermudian.”He is both right and wrong about this. He is right in the sense that this is not the Bermuda many people remember, and it is certainly not the Bermuda anyone wants. But he is wrong because this is the reality. Gangs and gang-related crime are happening in Bermuda and have their roots in Bermuda. That’s why Bermuda, together, has to solve them.