Have A Peek at Antigua Guatemala’s Security Camera Surveillance System

The first phase of the Antigua Guatemala security camera surveillance system, sort of the chapín Skynet, came online on February 2012 with 60 high-definition cameras connected via a fiber optic network. Most of the cameras have a 36x zoom capability and are installed at fixed key intersection through out Antigua Guatemala. There are four dome cameras which can rotate installed at complicated intersections and around the Parque Central, the main plaza. There is a crew of 13 people who oversee the cameras live footage every hour of every day from the especially designed monitoring centre with the capacity to store video for up to 30 days. The cameras were procured through a 2-million Quetzals loan which has been already paid in full. The working plan now is to install an additional 120 cameras to reach more barrios, neighbourhoods and aldeas, villages within the Antigua Guatemala Municipality. Guatemala’s Policía Nacional Civil, PNC short for National Civil Police (the Guatemalan FBI equivalent), is alerted instantly the moment a crime is caught on the video feed of the surveillance system.

This information came directly from my contact inside the City Hall government or Muni as we simply call it. If everything goes as planned, tomorrow I will share with you a peek from the inside of the monitoring center. Perhaps I will also get a chance to find out where the off switch is in case our Skynet becomes self-aware and decides to forgo the human element and turn against us on August 29. 😉

Stay tuned, I’ll be back!

BeNotEntangled says:

August 10, 2012 at 3:50 pm

All in the name of “safety”…I’m sure. So sad that no one stands up for liberty and freedom anymore.

Did you know the word “cop” stands for constable on patrol? He was the one who would walk around a neighborhood and when he saw something that didn’t look right, he would blow his whistle and the citizens would come running with guns in their hands.

Life, liberty and property are so related that the deprivation of any one right, may lessen or extinguish the value of the others. They are coequal in nature.

Stand and defend, or sit and be slaves.

Rudy says:
August 10, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Hi, thanks for the awesome trivia about the etymology of the word cop. Believe it or not, I was just thinking about that a couple of days ago. I kind of agree with you that something is being lost, but not sure it is liberty or freedom, privacy perhaps, but the other. Although, if surveillance cameras represent the loss of liberty and freedom, then I believe NO ONE in the world is standing for those rights since Antigua Guatemala is a late comer to the cities of the world with security camera surveillance systems.
begonia says:
August 17, 2012 at 7:29 am
Only someone who lives in a country that with relative security would argue so passionately for “freedom” from governmental authority.
I think Guatemalans–and other people who live in countries where the justice system is shaky–would argue that the far greater threat to their “freedom” is crime. Guatemala NEEDS a stronger justice authority, so that citizens there can enjoy the freedoms that you take for granted: Freedom to walk around at night without fear of ladrones or asaltos; freedom to carry something valuable without fear of it being stolen; and freedom to leave your windows without iron bars and your walls without barbed wire across the top.
Once I (a woman) can confidently go for a run at night around Antigua (something I do frequently here in the US), then I will feel more “free” in Guatemala.
1. Rudy says:
  August 17, 2012 at 12:59 pm
  These are very good and valid points Begonia. Thanks for bring them forward.
Peter says:
February 15, 2016 at 10:00 pm
Without basic safety and freedom from being robbed, beaten or worse, all the “liberty” in the world means zero. If surveillance cameras reduce crime and increase safety so as to allow people to enjoy walking the streets of Antigua, then please install as many cameras as may be necessary to protect Antigua’s residents and visitors.
1. Rudy says:
  February 16, 2016 at 9:52 am
  You’re right Peter, fortunately we can still enjoy walking around Antigua Guatemala with little or no fear.

Have A Peek at Antigua Guatemala’s Security Camera Surveillance System

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