The Police have outsourced the monitoring of Hamilton's CCTV cameras to a civilian firm on a trial basis so they can be watched 24 hours a day.

The Royal Gazette understands that the surveillance cameras, which are monitored from Police headquarters, did not have officers watching them constantly in the past due to staffing constraints.

That means the coverage of zones including Front Street, Court Street and Pitt's Bay Road has not been constant, which has provoked complaints from residents and business owners that they are not as effective as they could be.

The cameras were first introduced to Hamilton in 1998, with Government spending $300,000 on expanding coverage in 2005. They enable Police to pick up on unfolding incidents ranging from vandalism and thefts to serious crime, and send officers out to help. In addition, the tapes can be viewed later to look for evidence.

A press release yesterday stated: "The Bermuda Police Service would like to inform the public that 24 hour monitoring of CCTV has been outsourced to a local company with effect from Friday 1st May, 2009, on a three month trial basis with a view to providing a long term solution.

"This arrangement will allow for the dedicated monitoring of CCTV by trained staff so that the CCTV system can be used to its full capacity. This will allow the BPS to utilise CCTV more effectively to prevent, detect and solve crime; we will enhance our capability to keep the Island safe.

"The Bermuda Police Service remains committed to reducing overall crime and the fear of crime and this partnership allows us to provide solutions to criminality and anti-social behaviour. At the end of the trial period, a review will take place to identify how best the 24-hour monitoring of CCTV can continue."

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Diane Gordon reported that the Chamber has expressed concern and dialogued frequently with Police and Government about the increase of crime over the past few years and recommendations on how to move forward. She said: "Our dialogue has been extremely constructive and during several meetings the topic of CCTV, as a valuable tool to deter crime, has come up. "Manpower to monitor has always been a concern and I believe you will find that a request for proposal to provide the monitoring of CCTV was sent out and responses received by the Police."

Assistant Police commissioner, Mike Jackman said previously the CCTV was located in the Police Com Ups room, however the officers assigned to that room had other duties to attend to so they could not dedicate themselves to watching the cameras all the time. He confirmed that once an incident took place the CCTV footage was available for review for confirmation or evidence.

Mayor of Hamilton Sutherland Madeiros didn't think that Hamilton was ever monitored effectively. He felt that the method of checking the surveillance footage after the crime was very ineffective. He said: "History is not good enough to prevent something from happening. Hamilton had been under policed in the past, so to have a civilian company man the CCTV on a 24-hour basis, can only be an improvement."

Mr. Jackman confirmed the G.E.T. Security was the company contracted to run CCTV's. He said: "There was a request for proposal put out and the top three bids were short listed. Cabinet selected the best of the three."

Mr. Jackman added: "Monitors are set up in a room adjacent to the Police control room to which G.E.T. has access and will be able to bring any incidents to the attention of the Police on duty."