Tough new machete laws are making criminals think twice about carrying weapons in public, Bermuda's Police chief said yesterday.

Commissioner Jonathan Smith revealed that since July ? when a three-year spell behind bars became minimum for anyone caught with a bladed weapon ? there has been a drop in violent crime.

Earlier this year, one violent incident was being reported every 25 hours, Mr. Smith told a Press conference.

At the end of September, and with court sentencing powers bolstered on machete possession, a violent offence was being reported every 31 hours ? resulting in a 14 percent reduction from earlier this year.

Mr. Smith told reporters: "InforMr. Smith told reporters: "Information from the officers who work in the Police Support Unit is that they are generally encountering less bladed weapons on the street, and that the word regarding the mandatory three-year sentence has reached many of those who are now thinking twice about whether to carry a bladed weapon."

He said violent crime trends now showed "some encouraging signs".

And his deputy, Assistant Commissioner Carlton Adams (pictured), said the new legislation was providing "immense assistance" for officers.reported last week on the first man to be jailed under the revamped legislation, for carrying a machete on Court Street. That sentence was passed two days after three men were convicted of attempted murder for their role in the machete-fuelled violence that marred a football match at Wellington Oval last year.

Mr. Smith 's comments came yesterday as he announced Police crime statistics for the third quarter of 2005. There was a total of 705 crimes between July and September. This compared to 679 in the same spell last year, but was still the third lowest figure for the three-month period since 1999.

Mr. Smith said ten percent of this total were violent incidents ? leaving 90 percent falling into the property crime category.

Between 2004 and 2005, the average number of crimes per quarter was 610. And the Police chief said the link between drug use and burglaries and thefts continued to be strong, was driving this increase in reported crimes, and was having a "dramatic effect" on crime-fighting efforts in Bermuda.

He pinned most of the blame for this on the "revolving door" of offenders with "chronic drug dependencies".

Mr. Smith, who refused to comment on court sentencing, added: "It is very clear to our investigators that a significant group of mostly men with chronic drug dependencies are rotating through the criminal justice system, being arrested, convicted, released and re-offending." Police consistently urge prosecutors to object to bail applications and this had produced some "positive impact".

But Mr. Smith, who admitted he was not saying anything people working in the criminal justice system did not know already, said a "great deal" more needed to be done to deal with the cause of drug addiction at an early stage. Only when this cycle was broken would more encouraging crime results follow, although he stressed good work was being done by drug agencies.

"Many of these men with criminal convictions are now in their third decade of offending," the Commissioner told the Press conference.

"They have built up substantial criminal records, and despite our targeted efforts at gathering evidence...more often than not we are seeing them released and re-offending almost immediately.

"They are circulating through the criminal justice system and are re-offending. The proverbial revolving door is real for many of these offenders.

"This places an immense burden on the Police and society and is negatively impacting our ability to lower crime rates."

Compounding the problem, Mr. Smith said the "next generation" of teenage criminals were getting embedded in criminality, burgling to feed drug habits. Mr. Smith also revealed that 258 drug seizures were made in the last three months by Police and Customs officials on the streets and at Island entry points. He said at this rate the number of seizures in 2004 ? more than 950 ? would be passed in 2005. Cannabis, cannabis resin, crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin were among the substances recovered and continued to be "drugs of choice" in the local market.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner praised the work of the Police Support Unit (PSU), which patrols "the most problematic" Bermuda neighbourhoods.

Since formed in 2001, high-profile PSUs made about 3,600 arrests, the press conference heard, carrying out more than 650 arrests so far this year.

The unit has made 34 arrests in the last four nights of the Halloween period for offences including drugs, assault and weapons possession.