These are very similar cameras to those which it is proposed to install in parts of Hamilton.

It has been suggested in Bermuda that the cameras will curtail such things as cycle thefts and handbag snatches and make members of the public more comfortable going about their business in the areas under surveillance.

The Economist cites the town of Newcastle where police claim that crime has gone down by half since 1991 in areas covered by the cameras. In addition, 99 percent of offenders plead guilty when confronted by the evidence.

The article quotes a senior Police officer as saying that having a city centre TV system is like having 20 Police officers on duty 24 hours a day without a break.

This is, of course, exactly what Police Commissioner Colin Coxall has suggested to Bermudians. Cameras are the modern way to go. There is little doubt now that over the years Bermuda has fallen behind in crime prevention and Commissioner Coxall was brought here specifically to modernise the Police Service.

It has often been claimed in Bermuda that the cameras will move crime around and that when they force it out of one area, criminals will simply move to another area.

That is not so according to the article in the Economist. The story says that the cameras are proving effective in deterring urban street crime. The British experience is that they have not simply moved crime from one area to another but a British Home Office study found that the installation of cameras had a "halo effect'' and also caused reductions in crime in surrounding areas.

Operation Cleansweep used cameras hidden on the person of narcotics officers.

The video footage taken with those cameras is truly startling. There has been little criticism of the use of those cameras. Operation Cleansweep has also been criticised by those who have suggested that it will not, in the long term, decrease drugs sales but simply move the illegal activity underground or to other areas. That may also not be true if the British studies are accurate.

There is still criticism of the installation of the cameras in high crime areas in Hamilton. They are seen by some as an invasion of people's rights.

Yet if Bermuda flooded the areas with Police, in or out of uniform, that would not be criticised. There seems to be some reluctance to accept the cameras as mechanical policemen. The truth is that they are probably a good deal more accurate and efficient than any human Police can be simply because they are always on duty, always observing and not subject to human error.