1001 Smart Cities
🇲🇽 Mexico City

C5 Camera, Panic-Button and Seismic-Alert Network

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 1 sourced claim · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

1 sourced claim on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

About 60% of the city's crimes happen within 200 m of one of its 113,814 cameras, and police use the footage in under 1% of investigations. Coverage turns out not to be evidence.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🔬 Peer-reviewed
what does this mean?The strongest source behind this entry is an independent peer-reviewed or academic study. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byCentro de Comando, Control, Computo, Comunicaciones y Contacto Ciudadano de la Ciudad de Mexico (C5)
Scale🏙️ City-wide
Cost≈US$459M for the 2009-11 Ciudad Segura build; ≈MX$13bn (US$660M) on infrastructure and software by 2021; MX$600M for the 2025 camera batch
FundingMexico City government budget

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 7 more in Mexico City · 🛡️ Safety & security guide · 📡 Data & IoT projects

Mexico City's C5 monitored 113,814 street cameras in March 2026, watched from seven regional C2 centres. Most sit on masts that also carry loudspeakers, a strobe and a panic button that opens an intercom to a C2 operator; the same speakers relay the national seismic alert from about 13,900 poles. The city expects roughly 119,000 cameras before the 2026 World Cup. Officials say the cameras store no biometric data, and a facial-recognition upgrade announced in 2019 has never been independently confirmed as running.

Live 📅 since 2009

📊 Impact

Peer-reviewed findings are split: a 2025 study links the camera programme to a significant fall in pedestrian robbery (2018-2019 data), while a 2023 study found no effect on delivery robberies from the 2019 MiCalle expansion. Data Civica and R3D found about 60% of crimes happen within 200 m of a C5 camera, yet police use the footage in under 1% of investigations.

🎓 Lesson

Coverage is not evidence. The network sees most of the city's crime and still rarely feeds a case file, and 60% of panic-button presses were misuse in early 2026 — the binding constraint is the institution that has to consume the data, not the mast that collects it.

📡 Data & IoTSafety & securitySensors & IoTConnectivity & 5GPrivacy & personal data

Sources

↗ C5 CDMX — Difusión de la Alerta Sísmica desde los postes del C5 (operator)Operator page: 13,934 C5 poles reproduce the seismic alert through their speakers, each covering up to 200 m, across all 16 boroughs. The c5.cdmx.gob.mx domain returned 503 to automated fetching on 2026-07-26; figure corroborated by IMER Noticias and Milenio coverage of the annual speaker tests.
↗ C5 CDMX — Boton de Auxilio (operator)Operator definition of the artefact: 'El Boton de auxilio es un intercomunicador de contacto directo con los C2' — press once, an operator at a C2 answers by intercom, files a report and dispatches the relevant emergency service. Page 503s to automated fetching; wording matched by TV Azteca and Telediario explainers.
↗ Mediotiempo — CDMX se blinda rumbo al Mundial 2026 (23 Mar 2026)C5 coordinator Salvador Guerrero Chipres: 'Estamos hablando de 113 mil 814 camaras, y antes del Mundial yo creo que vamos a llegar a 119 mil camaras' ('113,814 cameras, and before the World Cup I think we will reach 119,000'). Same piece: seven C2 centres 'distribuidos estrategicamente' for faster territorial response, and 29 participating institutions.
↗ Expansion Politica — C5 va por 40,200 camaras en 2025 (8 May 2025)'Actualmente operan 83,414 camaras distribuidas en las 16 alcaldias'; MX$600M for 40,200 new cameras; totems ~MX$75,000 each with panic button and strobe, intelligent poles over MX$500,000 with 'boton de auxilio, internet gratuito y sistema de alertamiento sismico'. Also the source for the operator statement that the cameras do not store biometric data.
↗ Rest of World — Where surveillance cameras work, but the justice system doesn't (19 Jan 2021)Reporting the Data Civica and R3D analysis: 'approximately 60% of crimes in the city take place within 200 meters of a C5 camera, but police use C5 footage in less than 1% of investigations.' Also 'The city has spent more than $660 million (about MX$13 billion) in total on the infrastructure and software.' Spanish version republished by Animal Politico.
Show 5 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Applied Geography — Testing the local and spatial spillover effects of police monitored CCTV systems on crime (2023)Published February 2023Peer-reviewed difference-in-differences spatial panel on the MiCalle rollout (from mid-2019, poles in the 333 highest-crime neighbourhoods): 'no evidence connecting delivery robbery crime rates to the Mexico City MiCalle program', which 'has been geographically unfocused and appears to have been ineffective in reducing delivery robberies.' Publisher page returned 403 to automated fetching; abstract read via the search index.
↗ Rev. Cientifica General Jose Maria Cordova 23(51) — Video surveillance in Mexico City and its impact on reducing crime (2025)Published 20 August 2025 archived copyDiaz-Roman, Jasso-Gonzalez and Diaz-Guarneros, on 2018-2019 crime and socioeconomic data: 'the video surveillance policy implemented in Mexico City is associated with a significant decrease in robberies, supporting its deterrent effect', while noting the effect depends on residential stability and complementary policy.
↗ El Universal — Mal uso de botones de auxilio alcanza 60% (11 Feb 2026)'El 60 % de las activaciones de los botones de auxilio del Centro de Comando, Control, Computo, Comunicaciones y Contacto Ciudadano (C5) es por mal uso' — 60% of panic-button activations are misuse, against 70% a year earlier. C5 figures reported by the press, not an independent audit.
↗ Excelsior — C-5 se renueva con reconocimiento facial y lectura de placas (8 Aug 2019)Then-coordinator Juan Manuel Garcia Ortegon on 18,500 new HD cameras: 'reconocimiento facial, como la lectura automatica de placas que ahora se pueden integrar porque tendremos un software nuevo' — announced as a planned capability. No source found confirming facial recognition in operation on the CDMX network; the confirmed deployment is the neighbouring State of Mexico's separate Nexus system (Jan 2026).
↗ Infodefensa — Thales y Telmex se adjudican el proyecto Ciudad Segura (12 Mar 2009)Origin of the network and the basis for yearStart 2009: the Ciudad Segura contract awarded to Telmex with Thales at about US$460M, building 8,000 simultaneous video-surveillance points; 8,088 STV masts were installed from 2009 under the CAEPCCM, the C5's predecessor.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2009. 6 of 10 sources carry a publication date, from 8 August 2019 to 11 February 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Excélsior · pressExcelsior — C-5 se renueva con reconocimiento facial y lectura de placas (8 Aug 2019)
  2. Rest of World · pressRest of World — Where surveillance cameras work, but the justice system doesn't (19 Jan 2021)
  3. ScienceDirect (Elsevier) · researchApplied Geography — Testing the local and spatial spillover effects of police monitored CCTV systems on crime (2023)
  4. Expansión Política · pressExpansion Politica — C5 va por 40,200 camaras en 2025 (8 May 2025)
  5. Escuela Militar de Cadetes General José María Córdova · researchRev. Cientifica General Jose Maria Cordova 23(51) — Video surveillance in Mexico City and its impact on reducing crime (2025)
  6. El Universal · pressEl Universal — Mal uso de botones de auxilio alcanza 60% (11 Feb 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Sources last read
  2. Entered the record

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 1 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 1 addressable claim, 10 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 1

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-e1e050f4759a8434 quantitative
a 2025 study links the camera programme to a significant fall in pedestrian robbery (2018-2019 data)
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The impact itself describes the peer-reviewed findings as split.
Caveat
A 2023 study found no effect on delivery robberies from the 2019 MiCalle expansion, and police use camera footage in under 1% of investigations.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Rev. Cientifica General Jose Maria Cordova 23(51) — Video surveillance in Mexico City and its impact on reducing crime (2025)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates effective 2026-07-26 · created 2026-08-20

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:8d0ea1b7743f4c95989a0473efc8c1febe1b47190b03200e490c713ce816b12f
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
1
of 1 claims mapped
10
source dossiers
7
publication dates recorded
1
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Centro de Comando, Control, Computo, Comunicaciones y Contacto Ciudadano de la Ciudad de Mexico (C5)
Actor types
city-government
Funding model
public
Funding description
Mexico City government budget
Cost
≈US$459M for the 2009-11 Ciudad Segura build; ≈MX$13bn (US$660M) on infrastructure and software by 2021; MX$600M for the 2025 camera batch
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

10 source dossiers

C5 CDMX — Difusión de la Alerta Sísmica desde los postes del C5 (operator) c5.cdmx.gob.mx · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-b30133901cb61acd
Publisher
Name not classified · c5.cdmx.gob.mx
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Operator page: 13,934 C5 poles reproduce the seismic alert through their speakers, each covering up to 200 m, across all 16 boroughs. The c5.cdmx.gob.mx domain returned 503 to automated fetching on 2026-07-26; figure corroborated by IMER Noticias and Milenio coverage of the annual speaker tests.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
C5 CDMX — Boton de Auxilio (operator) c5.cdmx.gob.mx · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-09945aa96e485fcc
Publisher
Name not classified · c5.cdmx.gob.mx
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Operator definition of the artefact: 'El Boton de auxilio es un intercomunicador de contacto directo con los C2' — press once, an operator at a C2 answers by intercom, files a report and dispatches the relevant emergency service. Page 503s to automated fetching; wording matched by TV Azteca and Telediario explainers.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Mediotiempo — CDMX se blinda rumbo al Mundial 2026 (23 Mar 2026) mediotiempo.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-62eccbeed742017c
Publisher
Name not classified · mediotiempo.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-03-23
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

C5 coordinator Salvador Guerrero Chipres: 'Estamos hablando de 113 mil 814 camaras, y antes del Mundial yo creo que vamos a llegar a 119 mil camaras' ('113,814 cameras, and before the World Cup I think we will reach 119,000'). Same piece: seven C2 centres 'distribuidos estrategicamente' for faster territorial response, and 29 participating institutions.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Expansion Politica — C5 va por 40,200 camaras en 2025 (8 May 2025) politica.expansion.mx · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-632abf2cddb3ee81
Publisher
Name not classified · politica.expansion.mx
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-05-08
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

'Actualmente operan 83,414 camaras distribuidas en las 16 alcaldias'; MX$600M for 40,200 new cameras; totems ~MX$75,000 each with panic button and strobe, intelligent poles over MX$500,000 with 'boton de auxilio, internet gratuito y sistema de alertamiento sismico'. Also the source for the operator statement that the cameras do not store biometric data.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Rest of World — Where surveillance cameras work, but the justice system doesn't (19 Jan 2021) restofworld.org · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d67e7b7d37cbe78e
Publisher
Name not classified · restofworld.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-01-19
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reporting the Data Civica and R3D analysis: 'approximately 60% of crimes in the city take place within 200 meters of a C5 camera, but police use C5 footage in less than 1% of investigations.' Also 'The city has spent more than $660 million (about MX$13 billion) in total on the infrastructure and software.' Spanish version republished by Animal Politico.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Applied Geography — Testing the local and spatial spillover effects of police monitored CCTV systems on crime (2023) sciencedirect.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-308ce6270636b4be
Publisher
Name not classified · sciencedirect.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Peer-reviewed difference-in-differences spatial panel on the MiCalle rollout (from mid-2019, poles in the 333 highest-crime neighbourhoods): 'no evidence connecting delivery robbery crime rates to the Mexico City MiCalle program', which 'has been geographically unfocused and appears to have been ineffective in reducing delivery robberies.' Publisher page returned 403 to automated fetching; abstract read via the search index.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Rev. Cientifica General Jose Maria Cordova 23(51) — Video surveillance in Mexico City and its impact on reducing crime (2025) revistacientificaesmic.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-3bae10ed1e321a82
Publisher
Name not classified · revistacientificaesmic.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-08-20
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
Open archived copy ↗ · 2025-09-04
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Diaz-Roman, Jasso-Gonzalez and Diaz-Guarneros, on 2018-2019 crime and socioeconomic data: 'the video surveillance policy implemented in Mexico City is associated with a significant decrease in robberies, supporting its deterrent effect', while noting the effect depends on residential stability and complementary policy.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
El Universal — Mal uso de botones de auxilio alcanza 60% (11 Feb 2026) eluniversal.com.mx · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-346269c54aeadcb5
Publisher
Name not classified · eluniversal.com.mx
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-02-11
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

'El 60 % de las activaciones de los botones de auxilio del Centro de Comando, Control, Computo, Comunicaciones y Contacto Ciudadano (C5) es por mal uso' — 60% of panic-button activations are misuse, against 70% a year earlier. C5 figures reported by the press, not an independent audit.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Excelsior — C-5 se renueva con reconocimiento facial y lectura de placas (8 Aug 2019) excelsior.com.mx · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-35321e52ec658025
Publisher
Name not classified · excelsior.com.mx
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2019-08-08
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Then-coordinator Juan Manuel Garcia Ortegon on 18,500 new HD cameras: 'reconocimiento facial, como la lectura automatica de placas que ahora se pueden integrar porque tendremos un software nuevo' — announced as a planned capability. No source found confirming facial recognition in operation on the CDMX network; the confirmed deployment is the neighbouring State of Mexico's separate Nexus system (Jan 2026).

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Infodefensa — Thales y Telmex se adjudican el proyecto Ciudad Segura (12 Mar 2009) infodefensa.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-40a13945b348e472
Publisher
Name not classified · infodefensa.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2009-03-12
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-07-26
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Origin of the network and the basis for yearStart 2009: the Ciudad Segura contract awarded to Telmex with Thales at about US$460M, building 8,000 simultaneous video-surveillance points; 8,088 STV masts were installed from 2009 under the CAEPCCM, the C5's predecessor.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇺🇸 ShotSpotter Acoustic Gunshot Detection · Chicago Chicago dropped its gunshot sensors when 9.1% of alerts yielded evidence; Mexico City keeps 113,814 cameras used in under 1% of cases. 🇺🇸 Washington D.C. Pays Private Owners to Install Police-Registered Cameras · Washington D.C. Two ways to blanket a city: Washington subsidised ~28,000 private cameras; Mexico City owns and watches 113,814 of its own. 🇰🇷 S-Pole — Multipurpose Smart Streetlight Network · Seoul Both bundle the street furniture: Seoul's poles carry CCTV and Wi-Fi, Mexico City's add a panic button and the national seismic alert.

Explore the wider context

📟 A Reading Is Not a Decision👁️ Who is allowed to watch?📖 Integrated command and control centre (ICCC)📖 Automated speed enforcement (speed cameras)📖 Flood early-warning system
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “C5 Camera, Panic-Button and Seismic-Alert Network” — Mexico City, Mexico. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/mexico-city-c5/ (last verified 2026-07-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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