New Consul General Robert Settje is drawing on personal experience when he says gun trouble is best tackled by peaceful talks.Mr Settje, who has arrived in Bermuda as the official United States representative, was part of a SWAT team subjected to open fire in the line of duty during his days as a police officer in violence-plagued Madison, Wisconsin, three decades ago.Rather than fighting fire with fire, Mr Settje said his team survived such experiences with minimal force, calmly advising dangerous offenders of the errors of their ways.The mediation approach, he said, could reap similar benefits for the National Security Ministry as Bermuda attempts to get to grips with its own gang problems by adopting the Boston-inspired StreetSafe initiative.Mr Settje, a 58-year-old father-of-three, spoke to The Royal Gazette yesterday about his career on the front line, and his hopes of furthering Bermuda’s relationship with the States during his term as Consul General.In the late 1970s, Mr Settje was a police officer in Madison, where he became part of a SWAT team of 21.“We were the team that would have had to go into a building, an office or a house, if we were unable to coax the suspect out,” he said.“I must say I fortunately never had to resort to that.“We were deployed on several occasions with people barricaded inside buildings with weapons. We were fired upon, but we were always able to talk the person out without having to go inside and harm anyone.”In one incident in 1981, he said, a woman called the police to say her boyfriend had become physically aggressive.“She came running out and said he had a weapon and that he threatened her with it,” Mr Settje recalled.“The officers tried to talk with him and he opened fire upon them. We surrounded the place, and he continued to fire for a while until one of our negotiators made contact with him and talked him into putting down his weapon.“The idea then and now is that you try to resolve the situation with the least amount of force necessary. It was always our policy to try to get people to surrender by negotiating with them.”Under the StreetSafe project, mediators are speaking directly to gang leaders as they try to stop a series of shootings that has spiralled dramatically in the past three years.Mr Settje said he has already spoken to National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief about the merits of such an approach.“It’s not just a question of arresting people and putting them away,” he said. “You have to start dealing with the root cause of gang violence.“You have to look at the education system and opportunities for young people. That broader approach has been taken in the US.“I’ve spoken to Minister Perinchief and he seems very interested in dealing with the social and economic causes of the situation.”Mr Settje’s career as a diplomat, which began when he joined the Foreign Service in 1994, included a stint in Afghanistan from July 2009 to July 2010.During that time, his team was subjected to rocket attacks, while two of his colleagues were killed in suicide bombings.One of the good friends he made in the war-torn country, information officer JD Loftis, was killed in an attack at the Interior Ministry in Kabul in February this year.“The Taliban would launch random attacks. You never knew when it was going to happen,” he said.“You could be on base and they could launch an attack. They would attack roadside vehicles. You always knew it was a risk, you just never knew when it was going to happen.“But so many Americans had served in the military. I volunteered because I just thought it was my turn.”On his ambitions for his time in Bermuda, Mr Settje said he hopes to continue strengthening America’s bond with his new home, adding: “I’m honoured to be the Consul General in a place where my country has had such a long, positive and very close relationship.“I really like the Bermudians I have met so far, and I look forward to meeting more Bermudians and hearing more about their culture.”l Mr Settje urged Bermuda’s American community to ensure they are registered with the Consulate so that they can receive text messages and other communication about Hurricane Leslie.Useful websites: http://hamilton.usconsulate.gov