A review of police recruitment is aiming to attract more locals to bolster the force.

Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security, said yesterday: “We are definitely in the process now of taking a look at our recruiting process to bring it into the 21st century.”

He added that once the review was finished, it would “hopefully” make it “a little bit easier to hire locals first”.

In Supplementary Estimate No. 1 for Financial Year 2024-25, which was tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday by David Burt, the Premier, half of a $4.4 million allocation for national security was listed for “additional police officers”.

Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of Police, acknowledged in July that police on the island were contending with their lowest level of staffing in more than 40 years.

That same month, the depleted ranks of the BPS received a welcome shot in the arm when 12 new recruits joined the 360 serving officers after graduating from their recruitment foundation course.

Mr Simons told the ceremony: “Rest assured, the women and men in the BPS remain committed to, and focused on, their mission to make Bermuda safer.

“The BPS continue to work with the Minister of National Security and Government, as a whole, to ensure we are adequately resourced to meet our mandate.

“To that end, with the Government’s approval, we are progressing both local and overseas recruitment.”

Mr Simons said the BPS were in the process of selecting recruits for their next course and hoped that 25 new officers would begin training in November.

The commissioner added that police would get support from an updated CCTV camera system.

In the supplementary estimates tabled by Mr Burt on Friday, $475,000 was listed for the CCTV network.

Asked for an update on the island-wide system yesterday, Mr Weeks said its implementation was 80 to 85 per cent complete.

“We are looking to have it fully operational shortly,” he added.

The new system of 247 cameras, which has faced several delays since it was unveiled last year, was originally expected to be up and running before the end of July.

Last month, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Security said 190 cameras “have been successfully installed and are operational, actively monitoring strategic locations across the island”.

He said the ministry continued to monitor and test the cameras’ performance and coverage.