facilities which terrify Bermuda's guests and disrupt tourism, we have had a number of calls from the public.

It has been said that these break-ins go in cycles and that suggests that they occur when the perpetrators are out of jail between arrests. That has raised the question for one of our callers of just how many people are doing this kind of damage to Bermuda's image and to the tourism industry -- which employs the most Bermudians.

The numbers are difficult to determine but we would think that there is a hard core criminal group of fewer than 250 people who are damaging the whole Country. Bermuda is a good Country whose people are law abiding and do not want Bermuda held to ransom by a few.

We think the number is about 250 because the rate for repeat offenders in Bermuda is very high and probably that says something about the past lack of rehabilitation in the prisons. Some recent figures for those incarcerated at Westgate Correctional Facility and at the Prison Farm at Ferry Reach are very interesting and do indicate the rate of recidivism. The figures we have show 198 inmates at Westgate of whom 144 were repeat offenders. At the Prison Farm the figure was 82 prisoners of whom 51 were repeat offenders.

If we are correct and the number of people basically causing disruption to our visitors is relatively small, it seems to us that Bermuda ought to be able to identify the offenders, especially the repeat offenders, and rehabilitate them in a meaningful way, perhaps outside the prisons. Bermuda is a small place and offenders are confined to the Island and it should not be too difficult to achieve some progress. Instead it is suggested to us that these people go on and on creating waves of disruption by being incarcerated, then let out to offend again and then incarcerated again, thus perpetuating the cycles of hotel break-ins.

It was suggested in the story in Thursday's newspaper, headlined "Thieves target hotels'' that repeat offenders should be sent registered letters warning them off hotel properties. We do not think that would make the slightest difference. However since people have been identified sufficiently to be sent registered letters, then clearly they can be contacted. That would be a starting point.

Right now we spend millions to promote Bermuda only to have vacations destroyed when people steal from hotel rooms. It seems to us, and to our caller, that it would be much better to try to prevent these thefts at their source.