Mexico Metropolis Is the Most Video-Surveilled Metropolis within the Americas

“What’s beneficial is that when one thing occurs, they go to open the folder and the subsequent day request the video proof, as a result of [without an investigation file] they will be unable to entry this info,” says Salvador Guerrero Chiprés, common coordinator of C5 CDMX.

Actually, he shared that they obtain round 160 requests per day from individuals asking for the C5 recordings to current as proof in court docket.

In different phrases, if a mean of 640 investigation recordsdata are opened every single day in Mexico Metropolis (232,476 per 12 months, in line with knowledge from the 2024 Nationwide Census of State and Federal Prosecution of Justice), 25 % of those have a recording from authorities cameras as proof.

Though Mexico Metropolis’s video surveillance system is a device to forestall and punish crimes, town nonetheless registers the very best crime fee within the nation, with 54,473 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. In a survey carried out in 2025 by the Nationwide Institute of Statistics and Geography, 75.6 % of residents mentioned they didn’t really feel safe.

“The inhibition and prosecution of crime are complementary … All of the world literature signifies it, all the info from all the general public safety secretariats all over the world point out it, and within the case of Mexico Metropolis, it’s also apparent that there’s extra citizen confidence when there are extra cameras, whether or not public or non-public,” Guerrero Chiprés says.

Even if the nation’s capital is the most closely monitored metropolis within the continent, there may be nonetheless plenty of territory to cowl. Information shared by the top of C5 reveals that solely a 3rd of town is roofed by these cameras.

“Nowhere on this planet does it occur [that there is surveillance in 100 percent of public spaces],” Guerrero Chiprés says. “That’s the reason there have to be contribution from the entire neighborhood. If the neighborhood doesn’t take part with its personal cameras and in addition with its civic view, [security] is inconceivable, as a result of there are greater than 63,000 blocks within the metropolis, and we have now a presence in 20,000.”

Enter the Spy Bunker

Strategically positioned within the busiest areas with the very best crime charges, the video surveillance cameras function from Mexico Metropolis’s Command, Management, Computing, Communications, and Citizen Contact Heart (C5 CDMX), a bunker that works 24/7, and the place there’s a everlasting presence of representatives from 29 federal and native businesses, reminiscent of Mexico’s Nationwide Guard, the Navy, the Protection, and the Secretariats of Citizen Safety.

Though C5 is primarily identified for video surveillance, this house brings collectively other ways to comply with up on complaints from residents.