Colombia. In Antioquia, electronic security is consolidated as a key strategy to combat crime and improve the response capacity of the authorities. Through the Departmental Security Node, located in Medellín, more than 3,700 cameras are coordinated installed in 124 of the 125 municipalities of the department. This infrastructure allows the constant monitoring of urban and rural areas, facilitating the identification of criminal acts and operational decision-making in real time.
According to retired General Luis Eduardo Martínez, Secretary of Security of Antioquia, "with the cameras, 68 indicative results have been achieved, which have served the authorities to carry out the corresponding investigations as evidentiary material so that the judicial work of the cases can continue."
The cameras installed include LPR (license plate recognition), PTZ (panning, rotating and zooming), 360° vision and long range models. In municipalities with less coverage, one camera has been delivered per urban area. In addition, new technologies are being tested, such as a camera in Bajo Cauca capable of detecting armed people. "With this camera we have already detected people carrying firearms and grenades and the Police are immediately alerted to intervene," explained Secretary Martínez.
The operation of the system is in charge of more than 5,000 people, including former members of the National Police, active personnel and private guards. Although the general signal reaches Medellín, the first reception point is made at the Regional Nodes, located in the headwaters of the nine subregions. "In the subregional nodes you can see the cameras of the municipalities that are in the subregion, but they cannot see those of other areas. Only in Medellín can the cameras of all the municipalities be seen," Martínez detailed.
The process of technological integration required adapting teams, overcoming incompatibilities between systems and coordinating efforts with local mayors. "We had to talk to many mayors and work on technology so that all the municipalities could be integrated into the Departmental Node. We also had to deal with many egos, but in the end everyone understood that the most important thing is security in the department," said Carlos Mario Prada, coordinator of the Departmental Node.
Currently, the inclusion of Necoclí, the only municipality without connection, is being managed with the installation of five cameras, even in coastal areas sensitive to the passage of migrants. In parallel, the project is strengthened with the development of an analytics and statistics center to evaluate safety data and make evidence-based decisions.
According to the Government of Antioquia, the strategy has had resources from the Territorial Fund for Security and Citizen Coexistence (Fonset), the security tax applied to 550,000 taxpayers, and $94,000 million in future terms left by the previous administration. An extra investment of $317 billion is anticipated to incorporate more nodes and progress in large-scale artificial intelligence and supervision technologies.
This adoption of digital security creates critical opportunities for the private sector, including system integrators, smart camera providers, video analytics solutions, and cloud storage platforms. The need for specialized, interoperable and flexible teams for varied geographical and social contexts will continue to grow as the coverage of the system expands.
