Speed cameras can only improve driver behaviour by forcing motorists to slow down, the Commissioner of Police said.

Darrin Simons made the claim during a public meeting on Thursday.

The gathering, organised by the Ministry of National Security, was held to update the public on how an improved network of CCTV cameras will operate.

The new system consists of 247 cameras, 19 of which will be capable of monitoring vehicle speeds — and issue a ticket if the speed limit is broken.

After outlining details of the new system to an audience of about 50 residents at St Paul AME Church on Court Street, Mr Simons took questions from the audience.

In response to one query about the validity of speed cameras, Mr Simons said that driver behaviour had deteriorated in the past decade, and that speed cameras would help to reverse that trend.

He said: “There are on average 12 road fatalities every year going back to whenever; despite all the changes in technology and vehicle safety, we still get around 12 a year.

“Anyone who has been here for a while will say that, in the last ten years, the standard of driving behaviour and the carelessness on the roads, the lack of courtesy on the roads, has crept in.

“If I had a dollar for every time that I get beaten up for the lack of police presence on the road, the lack of traffic enforcement, I would be a very rich person.”

Mr Simons said that signs will be in place notifying motorists when they are entering a stretch of road monitored by speed cameras.

He said: “I think that when we turn the speed cameras on, it’s going to take a little while for people to realise where they are. After a while it’s going to increase the average driving level of care, the level of caution, the level of courtesy.

“If you’re driving from point A to point B every day, you’re going to know where most of those speed cameras are and you’re going to exercise particular caution around that area.”

Mr Simons accepted that speed cameras were “indiscriminate”.

He said that if a police radar operator witnessed a motorist breaking the speed limit briefly in order to overtake someone “they can cut them some slack — a speed camera won’t”.

He said that the cameras will be set at a particular speed and if that speed is exceeded, “that ticket will be on its way” — regardless of the circumstances.

He added: “That to me is one of the challenges, but I think the benefit is that driver behaviour is going to get better ‒ and there are far more people saying that they want driver behaviour to get better.”

Mr Simons said that while almost all the new cameras have been installed, speed cameras will not be able to issue tickets until next year.

He said: “We’re a good year away. It’s less of a technology issue and more of a legislative process. There are a number of moving parts that we’ve begun but will need some time to complete.”

In March, Michael Weeks, the Minister of National Security, said that a cross-ministry group was working on legislative amendments needed to implement a ticketing system for speed cameras.

He said: “This will be the final step in the implementation of a system that we are confident will improve the safety on our roads.”