Electronic tagging is to be introduced so that police officers can keep tabs on the movements of suspected criminals.National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief told the House of Assembly yesterday that police needed to get tough on gang members before they were even charged with crimes.The former assistant police commissioner said officers “know who the criminals are” so they should use the powers they have “to deal with them.”It is hoped that attaching tracking devices to a suspect’s wrist or ankle and recording their every move will help to tackle Bermuda’s worsening violent crime. Police have “never used tagging before” even though the option of using the technology has been available to them for about six years under the Bail Act 2005.Mr Perinchief said it was now time for “aggressive action” and he would call upon officers to use the powers to their “fullest extent.”The electronic tags have already been purchased and further funding is available to pay for the monitoring equipment.Mr Perinchief said he wanted better targeting of the specific individuals known to police.He said: “The Bail Act 2005 permits the police to prescribe the residence of a person, to impose a curfew, reporting restrictions and electronic monitoring all without the requirement to charge an individual. “These are significant powers and in the first instance they must be used to the fullest extent. If we are to give true meaning to the saying ‘we know who they are’ then we must use the tools we have to deal with them. A fully utilised Bail Act will achieve that.”Electronic tagging could be imposed once a senior officer satisfies a Magistrate that the suspect is part of a violent or antisocial lifestyle.Mr Perinchief would also like to see “identical provisions” for consideration under the parole regime.He said: “I know the guardians of constitutional freedoms will have their concerns.“I will respect them; but wish for the community to understand that national security demands that we be prepared to re-examine the balance of freedoms versus restrictions.”In his first speech to the House of Assembly as National Security Minister, Mr Perinchief said the “senseless” murders were continuing to threaten the “idyllic setting of paradise we call home.”But Mr Perinchief, who has 32 years of police experience, stressed police officers weren’t using all the powers at their disposal.He said: “In my meetings with the Commissioner of Police and the senior command of the Bermuda Police Service I have left them in no doubt that their focus must be on enforcing the law and using the tools provided to them by this Government.“Members will no doubt recall the raft of measures passed in 2009 which came directly from the police wishlist …. some of those powers remain to be used. I have urged the police to make use of all the powers at their disposal.”Mr Perinchief explained other measures remained under consideration to “meet the challenge posed by this trend of violence.”But he said it was wrong “to pretend that we can legislate ourselves out of this period of violence and gun crime.”He said: “Passing legislation is only one of the means by which to deal with these issues.”Mr Perinchief said the lives of two young men had been “snuffed out” since the House rose on March 28.He said: “More families mourn losses that seem and are quite simply senseless.“Communities struggle to understand how the idyllic setting of this paradise we call home can be the site of such violence and manifested anger.”Mr Perinchief said the community was looking to Government for solutions and he had tried to “meet the need and desire for answers.”He said: “I have attempted to give voice to the feelings of many in the community and have put several concepts into the public domain to spur debate and to raise the level of awareness of the pressing need for such antisocial behaviour to be met with strong enforcement of the law.”Mr Perinchief added that he remained committed to renewing the safety and security of Bermuda.