The Minister of National Security has issued a stark warning to the island’s criminals – “someone has eyes on you”.

Michael Weeks spoke to The Royal Gazette after unveiling plans for a comprehensive network of CCTV cameras across the island.

The system, which will be up and running by the end of the year, will consist of almost 250 cameras spread across the island. There are only 75 cameras in operation at present.

Mr Weeks said it was not just the blanket coverage of cameras that would revolutionise the fight against crime.

New technology means that the surveillance equipment will provide higher resolution images than previously, while analytics will allow the police to identify suspects and vehicles far more easily.

He said: “I think it can only help and enhance the police’s ability to combat crime and the public knowing that the CCTV is there – someone has eyes on you – that is a deterrent factor for those who may be considering doing any kind of crime.

“I have a message to the public: this CCTV system, once we have it implemented, is going to increase the feeling of safety and security for the whole country.

“So for those that are engaged in untoward behaviour – you’d better beware.”

Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of Police, said that the latest crime-fighting technology will speed up investigations.

He said: “The new system is going to have the ability to apply analytics to it. One of the challenges now is if something happens, you have to work your way back and there are cameras here and here and so you have to check each one, and then the spider’s web goes out.

“It is going to have the ability to take a key frame from where the incident happened, or as close as you can and then you can say ‘find me this vehicle across the entire system’.

“Those kinds of advances are going to help. The challenge of having some frames here and then having to look back through all these cameras and all this footage through all this time – there’s a serious amount of time and resources that that takes.

“We’re really hopeful that the new technology is going to speed that up.”

Mr Simons was asked if some high-profile crimes would have been solved more quickly had the latest technology been installed earlier.

Two months ago Marco Warren was killed in a hit-and-run incident in Hamilton Parish. Although police were able to view footage of the incident on the existing TV network, the perpetrators are still at large.

Mr Simons said: “I think it’s difficult to make a direct link to any changes in the system to any one particular crime but suffice it to say that CCTV is a critical tool in fighting crime.

“I think it’s difficult to link advances in technology to how it may have impacted one particular crime but I think on the whole it will significantly assist us in solving crimes.”

Phase 1 of the revamp is expected to be complete by the end of the year, while further upgrades, including speed monitoring and facial recognition capabilities, will be applied during Phase 2, which is set to commence early in 2024.

Mr Weeks said that the roll-out of the system had been devised in consultation with police.

“They have been our No 1 adviser because they will be the ones who are going to monitor the CCTV,” he said.

Both Mr Weeks and Mr Simons dismissed suggestions that the saturation of surveillance equipment represented a threat to civil liberties.

Pointing out that the cameras will be located only in public areas, the minister said: “Most things that people do that they don’t want anybody to see don’t happen on public roads.”

Mr Simons added: “Privacy is a very important consideration, so we really do our best to ensure that those cameras are used for appropriate purposes.

Mr Weeks said that fighting crime was at the top of his ministry’s list of priorities.

He said: “We are in a situation right now where crime has been a major issue – gun crime, other violent crime.

“Crime is a priority because keeping our country safe is important. Crime exists and there will always be some people, but do we stop trying to make our people safe?

“We know that just as each morning we get up and try to make our country safe, there are other people who get up in the morning with their own agendas.

“But the police are doing an excellent job in addressing crime, and hats off to what our police are doing.”