There is presently no monitoring of CCTV cameras in Trinidad and Tobago, according to Former Police Commissioner Gary Griffith.
He told the Power Breakfast Show this morning that there is no link between the cameras and operations on the ground.
Recently San Juan/ Barataria MP Saddam Hosein revealed in the Parliament that of the 1700 CCTV cameras in the country only seven hundred were active.
Griffith explained that due to issues with the procurement process repair of the malfunctional cameras was significantly affected.
He said when the National Operations Center was formed it included representatives from the police, army, customs, coast guards and immigration in a central monitoring system and the seven hundred cameras helped in the monitoring process.
This, he lamented, has since been done away with.
He said this means there can be no immediate response based on camera coverage when a crime committed.
He said the criminals have now become much more confident because they realise that there is no high visibility by the police and in the absence of the proper resources, they take a longer period of time to respond to emergencies.