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Mexico City: Telmex and Thales selected to double the capacity of world's most advanced urban security system

Key points

  • A contract awarded to integrate 7,000 new cameras.
  • Ciudad Segura, the world’s most ambitious urban security programme.
  • Noticeable improvements in effectiveness of response and citizen security, making Mexico City an ever safer city.
  • Thales provides state-of-the-art technologies in terms of video surveillance and image analysis.

 

Thales, in partnership with Telmex, a leading telecommunications provider in Mexico and Latin America, has once again been selected by Mexico City to integrate a further 7,000 video surveillance cameras to protect citizens as part of the Ciudad Segura project.
Under this new contract, Mexico City will double the capacity of its urban security system, the most advanced of its kind in the world.

Ciudad Segura is a unique urban video surveillance project to improve security across the metropolis and protect citizens from crime, terrorism, attacks on strategic sites, natural disasters and other threats.

The deployment of a further 7,000 cameras, as well as panic buttons, loudspeakers and law enforcement systems, will strengthen the existing capability, which includes over 8,000 cameras installed under the initial contract signed in 2009.

In a major emergency situation or during large-scale events, police can deploy specially equipped mobile command centres that maintain contact with the central command centre (C4I). The system can also locate or identify vehicles in the city's main streets thanks to its ability to read number plates.

Used to monitor crowd density and movements, the system can also provide comprehensive security coverage at major events, in particular during the annual pilgrimage to the Basilica de Guadalupe, which attracts more than 6 million people and is the second-largest pilgrimage in the Christian world.

 
 

Results that speak for themselves

Five years after the Ciudad Segura project was launched, the results speak for themselves:

  • A reduction in crime of over 32%,
  • Average police response time down from 15 min. in 2009 to less than 4 min. today,
  • Over 1 million incidents handled by the system, leading to more than 102,000 arrests.

 

Telmex has placed its entire existing network as well as a new dedicated fibre-optic network at the service of the Ciudad Segura programme. The operator is also responsible for programme delivery.

Thales, a global leader in security solutions, has implemented the most advanced technologies available to provide video surveillance, analyse images and other intelligence information, handle emergency calls, manage large-scale events and simulate emergency situations. Drawing on its experience in the defence sector, Thales has all the expertise needed to implement these technologies in complex environments, adapt solutions to operational requirements and provide the necessary user training.

Thales’s objective is to ‘simplify complexity’, empowering strategic decision-makers by delivering clear, timely and operationally relevant information about their environment.

 

"This new contract with the Mexico City authorities is a clear vote of confidence in Thales and programme partner, Telmex, and a compelling illustration of the performance of the system already in place, based on its success record since 2011. With our world-class capabilities and local skills based in Mexico, we are well placed to provide high-end security solutions and address the key issues faced by major cities in Latin America and around the globe."

Pascale Sourisse, Thales Senior Executive Vice-President, International Development