The death of a young man in Paceville this week was at once a tragedy, an eye opener and an omen of ill portent. It was tragic in that a young man’s life was so needlessly stripped from him in his prime; it was yet another eye opener to the fact that Paceville is becoming an increasingly dangerous place; and a bad omen in that – and here we sincerely hope we are wrong - more such brutal, needless acts are in store if the problems there are not nipped in the bud.

And while the full facts leading to the attack by two still unidentified individuals are still to be established in full, the attack’s apparent randomness and speed give rise to motives that are different to and more sinister than brawls with bouncers and testosterone-fuelled fistfights.

The fact that the young man so needlessly taken from this world is a refugee from Sudan attempting to establish a new life for himself far from the horrors of his homeland makes little difference in this particular context. Nevertheless, the treatment of such individuals at places of entertainment and the fact that the last two deaths in Paceville were of sub-Saharan refugees gives plenty more food for thought. Racism-driven or not, the crime committed last Saturday morning was a case of extreme violence that cannot be tolerated.

And while these deaths are the culmination of the problems in nocturnal Paceville, they are also the tip of the iceberg. The innumerable scuffles, fights and any of a range of misdemeanours committed on any given weekend night should not be tolerated either.

When people are given an inch, they generally tend to take a mile. The same goes for illegal hunting or, for example, the innumerable traffic offences that can be observed on any given 20-minute drive. But it is these small things that lead to ever larger offences. When the small things are left ignored, people will always push the envelope, some as far as they can and for as long as they can.

Nipping the Paceville problem in the bud requires a stronger police presence, plain and simple - not to merely break up fistfights but, rather, to serve as a deterrent.

In the context of last Saturday morning’s murder, it is doubtful, given the apparent speed of the attack, that police officers would have been able to have prevented it, but their mere presence in Paceville in force could very well have otherwise dissuaded the perpetrators from carrying out the heinous act in the first place.

There has been a recent exchange when an action group set up to address the Paceville problem called for a stronger police presence there. They were accused of looking to create a ‘police state’ in Paceville, an accusation the group correctly rebutted by clarifying that what it was calling for was a ‘benevolent and protective police presence’. We concur completely with this viewpoint.

For those recoiling at the thought of a greater police presence in Paceville, consider the effect on Paceville’s nocturnal businesses if, should matters be allowed to degenerate further, people begin avoiding the area altogether in the interests of safety. The effect would be far worse from a business point of view than that of even a fully-fledged police state for Paceville.

Visiting European cities known for their nightlife, one cannot but notice the strong police presence constantly on the beat. They are seldom seen frisking people or checking their papers, but they are there, they are there in force and their presence is enough to make would-be criminals think twice about what they may be contemplating.

Quite frankly, one feels safer walking in Amsterdam or Soho than one does in Paceville at certain times of night. This is not to say that the police are not patrolling Paceville, they are, but if they are to serve as the kind of deterrent that Paceville needs their numbers need to be increased so they can be seen at practically all times and in all areas.

A well-advertised, live closed-circuit television system covering the whole of the area would also help immeasurably, while at the same time providing another very valuable deterrent to crime.

It is only with the presence, the key word being ‘presence’, of more police officers that Paceville will be rendered safer for all.