Mexico City authorities have developed and are deploying what is claimed to be the largest urban security system in the world – Ciudad Segura.
A city-wide systems network, described as ‘one vision of the city’, deploys more than 8,080 cameras, hundreds of gunshot sensors, a city-wide network of emergency call points and citizen terminals as well as a fleet of surveillance drones, with the single aim of securing and protecting the day-to-day lives of the citizens of Mexico City, the world’s third-largest metropolis.
xThe goal of the project is to better protect citizens from a wide spectrum of risks including crime, terrorism, attacks on strategic sites, natural catastrophes and other emergencies. It brings together in a cooperative endeavor the government of Mexico City, one of the world’s largest megacities, Telmex, a leading Latin American telecommunications company and Thales, an international leader in security solutions.
According to Thales, the massive system, developed and deployed for the city authorities, sees the company’s expertise in comprehensive security solutions as a key differentiator in the worldwide security market, coming into play. The company was awarded the contract for the urban security system in Mexico City in 2009, with sub-systems operated by regional and national command and control centers and supported by a mobile tactical command and control system.
Public safety
The Public Safety department for Mexico City says the program is aimed at implementing tools which enhance reactivity and thus efficiency. The solution goes beyond just providing the technology, say the project partners. An in-depth understanding of the customer’s activities and procedures was essential, and the solution needed to be tailored to the customer’s culture and practices, concept of operations and legal framework, as a real understanding of the reasoning behind the practices and operational procedures in place makes all the difference in developing a complex solution.
With 22 million inhabitants and an area of 5,000 square kilometers, Mexico City is the world’s third-largest urban agglomeration. The comprehensive urban security system includes:
- 8,080 CCTV, 80% with video analysis
- 380 gunshot sensors
- 255 cameras for automatic number-plate recognition
- 180 cameras for traffic monitoring on key routes
- 2 tactical mobile command and control centers
- 4 unmanned reconnaissance aircraft
- 5 regional C2 (command and control operation centers)
- 1 national C4I4 (command, control, communication, computer and intelligence centre)
- a city-wide network of emergency call points and citizen terminals
The “Ciudad Segura” surveillance project to improve urban security is also hailed as being the most highly integrated and complete system in the world. More than 500 engineers and experts from the Mexico City police department, Telmex and Thales have worked together on the implementation of this project.
Mexico City authorities decided to implement an integrated urban security system to handle calls and process information from surveillance systems, built on the city’s most modern secure and widespread telecommunications network. The system processes information from 8,080 video cameras and sensors located across the city and transmits alarms to the appropriate operators when any unusual events or behavior are detected.
In a major emergency situation, police can deploy specially equipped mobile command centers that maintain contact with the central command centre (C4I4). The system can also locate or identify vehicles in the city’s main streets thanks to its ability to read number plates.
Cutting edge
Telmex has placed its entire existing network – and a new dedicated optical fiber network, at the service of the “Ciudad Segura” project. Telmex states the cutting-edge technology of its infrastructures, the security, robustness and coverage of its network and its experience in operations and integration-along with the best-trained telecommunications personnel in the country will all contribute to guarantee the project’s success.
In October 2011, the local government opened an intelligence center where all the video feeds from a total of 13, 000 surveillance cameras are monitored. It has been launched as a state-of-the-art integrated hub, known as the C4I4, monitoring everything in view across the metropolis – in real time and around the clock. The cameras are positioned along streets, inside buses and on subway platforms.
Inside the building’s circular nerve center, 600 video screens carry scenes of residential streets and major intersections and as an advanced public-safety command center, city authorities say it could also serve as a hub in case of a major earthquake, a volcanic eruption or an outbreak drug-war-related street violence that has reportedly been experienced in other parts of the country.
In addition to the surveillance operation, all of the city’s databases, such as vehicle records and addresses, are available to officials inside the C4I4. This means 47 public-safety agencies, from firefighters to the bank police, now have a single home base in case of a major emergency. Each image captured by the center’s cameras – movement in the city’s prison yards, commuters on the busy Metrobus lines — is stored for up to a week, allowing for ongoing intelligence operations across the capital.
Command and control
The name C4I4 stands for four Cs (command, control, communications, computing) and four I’s (intelligence, integration, information, investigation) and, according to officials, will guarantee safety in city.
As part of the pre-planning exercise, Mexico City senior government members reportedly visited 12 foreign cities, including London and New York, to look at their public surveillance systems. The municipal government then put a reported $460 million into a plan called “Safe City,” in which phone company Telmex was contracted to supply the network and the Thales, was hired to supply the technology.
Emergency-response officials have said, in news reports, that the C4I4 allows authorities to have ‘one vision of the city’, and added that the threat of drug-war violence creeping into Mexico City is of ongoing concern. Reportedly, so far, the drug war has largely been absent in Mexico City, a place once notorious for serious crime and now seen as relatively free from drug violence. Indeed, the government announced a 12.5% drop in crime in the capital between 2010 and 2011, a decline attributed, by city authorities partly as a result of the implementation of public surveillance cameras.
In addition, as more than 13 million tourists visit Mexico City each year, for both recreational and business purposes, and it regularly hosts international forums, congresses and conventions, public city life in general is benefiting. The last World Aids Conference took place in the city with some 25,000 delegates attending and zero criminal incidents reported.
Benefits include an integrated system with state-of-the-art solutions, which at the same time meet the security needs of the Mexican metropolis and can be incorporated into police operations, as well as being able to integrate legacy systems.
Key features
Thales and Telmex delivered the centralized C4I4 center, which coordinates five regional command control centers in charge of all multi-forces security operations during routine operations and emergency situations. It includes video surveillance, operational forces tracking and status monitoring, emergency call taking & dispatching, forces, skills and equipment allocation for incidents database queries and training.
The project also includes mobile command control centers and will be able to integrate information from unmanned drones responsible for remote surveillance, both of which will facilitate the intervention and the decision-making process everywhere in the city. Features include:
- operational 24/7, addressing 9 million people
- organization for public safety forces (80 000 people)
- video surveillance network (8080 cameras dedicated to urban surveillance, traffic management and registration plate recognition)
- integrated and Unified command control system including 5 floors, 20,000 M2, 250 positions (90 call-talkers, 132 dispatchers, 20 video surveillance operators); five C2 from 35 to 60 positions; two C2 mobiles units
- lab/development platform link to Polytechnic Engineer High School
- Network Operational Center (NOC)
- System Operational Center (SOC)
- training facility.
Modernization
Meanwhile, after the implementation of the Cuautitlan-Buenavista train line, from the centre to north-east of the city, Thales are also participating in the modernization of the Mexici City’s transport network. Last year, the company was selected by Metrobus (Rapid Bus Transit system operator of the Government of Mexico City) to install its ticketing system for bus line 3 (Rapid Bus Transit) .
This solution specifically, developed for separated bus lines, includes 100% automatic payments, entry barriers and the use of contactless cards. Spanning 17km in length, this new line counts 32 stops and has the capacity for 120,000 passengers a day. With 54 vehicles and connection to 7 metro lines and 2 bus lines, line 3 Metrobus cut traveling time by 40%. This new line improves transport efficiency in the city and reduces the number of cars in the urban area. Furthermore, it leads to a 20,000 ton reduction of CO2 emissions each year, according to the company.