Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness on Tuesday sent a stern message to criminals: Jamaica is investing in technology to record your illegal actions, and ensure that you are found and brought to book.

“It is important to let the criminals know that we see you, we know you, we can find you, and we will reach out and touch you,” Mr Holness said at the commissioning ceremony of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance project on Olympic Way, where 51 cameras are mounted at strategic locations in the area he described as a critical corridor in the St Andrew South Police Division, and which faces unique challenges.

The high-definition cameras all form part of the $100-million Olympic Way JamaicaEye Monitoring Project, the first of its kind in Kingston and St Andrew, and the model for the wider Jamaica.

It’s the first full-scale, round-up installation in the Corporate Area under the JamaicaEye national security surveillance programme, which aims to instal 2,500 cameras across Jamaica over three years.

Mr Holness said the cameras will be focused on schools, public spaces, and buildings, to provide constant visibility.

“We are building out a national infrastructure of safety,” he added, as he assured Jamaicans of safer times to come.

Though the country’s crime numbers have generally been trending down, as Security Minister Dr Horace Chang says in today’s publication, he’s not claiming “victory” yet. Indeed, Jamaica is still seeing crime’s devastating impact — from brazen daylight robberies to extortion, to gang-related murders, some in plain view. Crime continues to threaten public safety, stifle investment, and erode the fabric of communities.

And even when there are human witnesses to the offences, a constant struggle is the culture of silence — people see what happened, but don’t, or are too afraid, to say anything.

In other jurisdictions that face similar challenges, CCTV has been the tool that has revolutionised the way they approach crime prevention and resolution.

CCTV is more than a set of cameras perched on buildings — it is a 21st-century solution to a 21st-century problem. Around the world, countries have used the surveillance technology not just to solve crimes, but also to deter them. In the United Kingdom, for example, CCTV footage is widely used in investigations, with police often relying on visual evidence to track suspects and secure convictions. In China, surveillance systems equipped with artificial intelligence have been used to locate fugitives within minutes.

A broad CCTV network offers many benefits — it acts as a visible deterrent for criminals when they know they are being watched; it assists investigations by providing credible, time-stamped footage; and it allows citizens to feel safer in their homes, streets, and communities.

Of course, CCTV is not a silver bullet. It will not replace good policing, community engagement, or the need for judicial reform. But it is a powerful tool — and one that we all should support the Government on implementing.

And so we can only applaud this Government initiative that will help the police in executing their duties, and hold perpetrators to account.

As Mr Holness said, the CCTV provides evidence without having to rely on the human witness factor — someone who might be fearful to come forward to give a statement.

We have to move forward with eyes wide open — both literally and figuratively. And the camera does not blink.