A one-month amnesty for people to hand in knifes and other weapons is being launched by the Bermuda Police Service next week.

It is the latest step to reduce violent crime on the island.

Commissioner of Police Darrin Simons said that secured bins would be placed at five locations across the island, including the police stations in Somerset, St David’s and Hamilton.

There will also be bins at Gorham’s in Pembroke and at Warwick Camp for the campaign — designed to encourage the handover of prohibited weapons, which does not include firearms.

Mr Simons spoke about the amnesty during a town hall meeting at Penno’s Wharf in St George’s on Monday as stakeholders continue an island-wide conversation on guns and gang violence in Bermuda.

Andrew Murdoch, the Governor, and Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security, were also on the panel and answered questions from residents.

Mr Simons told The Royal Gazette: “We’ve done a weapons amnesty in the past and I think it’s really important that we provide the opportunity to the community.

“As we are adding new items on the list we are saying ‘if you have them, now is your time’.”

A weapons amnesty was held in 2003 and the police commissioner told attendees at the town hall he was optimistic that the imminent campaign would be fruitful.

Mr Simons explained that there were 11 “prohibited items” which residents “are not allowed to possess, sell, import, use or carry”.

Given a rise in the number of incidents which involved bladed items in recent times, he said the police would add a further eight items to the list.

“In advance of doing that we want to give the public the opportunity to hand those items in,” he said.

Mr Simons said photographs of the types of items and other relevant information would be made public before the campaign’s start.

“We are going to allow people to hand in those items, drop them in the bins, they are locked and secured and we will collect them on a nightly basis,” the police commissioner said.

He added that the handovers themselves would be “without consequences”.

Mr Simons said: “It is one of the steps that we are taking to reduce violence and to address some of that rise in the trend that we are seeing around an increase in bladed article use.”

Mr Murdoch, who supported the campaign, said there was “no one measure” that could be adopted to tackle crime.

“We need lots of concurrent initiatives, some of which will work, some of which might not,” he said.

Diane Gordon, of the Bermuda Red Cross, suggested that the panel consider locations other than police stations to be used for the placement of the bins.

She said the campaign’s intention appeared to be a “second chance” and an opportunity for residents to hand in weapons.

However, she added: “I’m not convinced that having those weapon amnesty bins at a police station is going to encourage people to participate.”

She advocated for the BPS to work with partners to find “a neutral territory” for the placement of the bins.

Mr Simons said that while he understood Ms Gordon’s concerns, there was a need to balance risks.

He explained: “In our planning we thought about a number of places but there is a balance to be struck with maintaining the security of the actual bins.

“It will be highly embarrassing if somebody made off with a bin.”

Earlier, Mr Murdoch said a third Governor’s Council meeting would be held this week to address security and other community matters, as well as what measures could be implemented to tackle them.

He said that while police were part of the response to violence on the island, public input was equally important.

Mr Weeks also highlighted the value of the community in combating crime.

He said: “We must reach our young people before the gangs do.”

The minister said that the Government was working to implement programmes that would create opportunities for young people, such as after-school projects.

In an update on the island’s CCTV network, Mr Simons told attendees that 21 camera sites were to be added to the existing 136.

He said following a shooting on Court Street in September in which Janae Minors was killed, 12 camera sites were utilised, yielding 20 minutes of footage.

Mr Simons said that police were in the process of acquiring assistance from overseas, including the addition of four serious crime investigators to boost BPS capacity, as well as three crime analysts, two financial crime investigators and the procurement of equipment.

The BPS were also “exploring boots on the ground options”, Mr Simons told town hall attendees.

The panel heard a series of suggestions from residents to address the root causes of violence on the island, including the implementation or enhancement of community programmes to tackle social issues.

One resident said: “Gang violence is a huge problem but I think a lot of it has to start with education of our children.”

Another noted that from earlier public forums on the issue, solutions to address violence have been raised for years.

He said he was excited to hear the panel talk about a “transition to systemic action”, which he added “is where we fall short”.

The speaker told the gathering: “Do I think we can do it? Absolutely, we just need to be really intentional about it.”

He urged the community to get involved in addressing violence in all forms.

Gavin Smith, of the charity Transitional Community Services, suggested the need for a reformation programme for people behind bars that could be undertaken in collaboration with the Royal Bermuda Regiment.

He said: “We already have the established system set up where we know how the regiment works.

“For suitable candidates, I think it will be very appropriate and a great opportunity for a pilot programme within the prisons to allow some suitable candidates to become part of a regimental programme.”

He said the scheme would provide them with “pathways to employment and shelters upon release”.