CCTV cameras and robust policing are not enough to fight Bermuda's spiralling gang violence, according to a once high-ranking police officer.Jeff Baron was responsible for firearms, public order and safety while a sergeant in the Bermuda Police Service. He yesterday told a joint parliamentary select committee on violent crime and gun violence the Island must focus on the social causes of crime.He added Government needed to act now instead of holding more press conferences and meetings on the issue of crime.“The belief that CCTV or robust policing can counter complex problems, like gang violence, is unrealistic in the extreme,” said Mr Baron.He spent a decade with the Bermuda Police Service before he left in 2007 and went on to work in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping, in Kosovo.“Situational crime prevention is concerned with reducing criminal opportunities. Some local examples of situational crime prevention techniques are CCTV installation in Hamilton, robust policing in hot spots and residential burglar alarms,” he added.“Situational methods can be quite effective and results are achieved relatively quickly in comparison to other methods.”Mr Baron said “political drive” to reduce violence encourages communities to opt for “quick wins” though situational crime prevention.Government should focus on crime prevention and identify potential offenders at the earliest opportunity, he added.He said research has shown improved housing and living conditions in marginalised communities helped reduce crime by creating better-secured areas, thereby halting a perceived spiral of deterioration and reducing disorderly behaviour.It also gave residents a stake in their community, he added.“Locally, the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation and Government funding to the Economic Empowerment Zone [of North Hamilton] provide a shining example of this purpose,” he said.“We tend to think of these initiatives in economic terms only. We should broaden our focus to view the potential social, economic and security benefits of improving living standards.”He recommended the EEZ receive more funding and increase their staffing levels. He also suggested more monitored recreational centres to identify young people who could become criminals.“Shifting our national focus and dollars on social crime prevention projects will convert marginal communities into safe milieus, populated not by violent offenders, but by citizens willing to support Bermuda's peaceful and gracious heritage and oppose criminal behaviour.”Mr Baron said he had made a similar argument in a strategic paper last year and hoped not to do the same next year.“As a Country we need progress,” he said. “There have been to many speeches. There have been too many press conferences and there have been too many excuses. Too many Bermudians have lost their lives and too many families left heartbroken.“The time for waiting and strategising is over. It is time to cut a clear path forward by improving the living standards and empowering marginalised communities. It is time to refocus Bermuda's crime reduction efforts on the wider struggles yet to be won mending the social causes.”