Rio inaugurates first Digital Border and expands smart surveillance in the city.

Each of these gantries and semi-gantries is equipped with smart cameras capable of reading license plates and identifying vehicles. Photo: Marcos de Paula

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall inaugurated, this Wednesday (March 18), the first intelligent semi-gateway of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Technology Center in Support of Public Security (CIVITAS Rio). Installed on Avenida Francisco Bicalho, at the exit of the bridge towards the city center, the equipment marks the implementation of the city's first Digital Border — out of 16 that will be installed by the end of this year and out of 56 planned for all entrances, exits and points of high vehicle and pedestrian traffic in Rio by 2028.

The structure reinforces the existing digital belt, which has more than 12 cameras distributed throughout all regions and integrates the Central Electronic Surveillance System.

"We are here to showcase the first digital border, the digital barrier, which is part of the Civitas system, which already has more than 10 cameras monitoring the city. We are assisting the security forces, the Civil Police, in conducting investigations. And the digital barrier is just another element of this whole," stated Mayor Eduardo Paes.

He highlighted that this is the role the city government can play to help with public safety:

– This work already began last Sunday, with the Municipal Force. We will continue moving forward, expanding the areas.

Each of these portals and semi-portals is equipped with smart cameras capable of reading license plates and identifying suspicious vehicles, always at the request of security forces and the justice system, making it virtually impossible for a vehicle under investigation to circulate through the city undetected.

The equipment features a large screen that displays, in real time, data on suspicious vehicles monitored simultaneously by the Central at the request of security forces, real-time movement alerts generated since the creation of CIVITAS Rio in June 2024, and the daily volume of license plate readings in the city, in addition to the image from the camera installed on site.

CIVITAS Rio integrates data, technologies, and information to strategically and intelligently support the work of security forces and the justice system. Based on official requests, the Center cross-references information, identifies connections, and organizes evidence in a structured way, enhancing investigations and inquiries with auditable data. This process expands the capacity of security forces to act with greater precision, agility, and consistency, contributing to the effective accountability of criminals. With this performance, CIVITAS consolidates itself as one of the most technologically advanced and modern municipal intelligence centers in the country, reinforcing the strategic role of the municipality in the use of data, technology, and advanced analysis to support police forces and the justice system.

Digital Borders are part of a strategy to expand surveillance in the city, with structures positioned at strategic points that allow for the identification of cloned license plates, detection of suspicious movements, and cross-referencing of information with ongoing investigations, directly supporting the actions of security forces and the justice system.

– In the Digital Border project, we are mapping the main access routes of the city of Rio so that when a car passes through this portal, or when a person passes through this location, they enter a monitored zone where we record all the passages of vehicles circulating through our city – said the CEO of CIVITAS Rio, Davi Carreiro.

Currently, CIVITAS Rio has over 12 surveillance devices in all neighborhoods of the city, and this number is constantly expanding. Of this total, more than 3.200 are already smart super-cameras, capable of conducting criminal investigative searches, such as license plate reading even in adverse conditions, route reconstruction, identification of movement patterns, and connection between different incidents. By the end of 2026, the Central should reach 6 of its own super-cameras in operation, significantly expanding its capacity for scene reading, pattern identification, and real-time alert generation, further strengthening support for investigations and the actions of security forces.

CPID XVII expands data integration and applied research in public safety.

Last Saturday (March 14th), CIVITAS Rio launched the CPID XVII program, an initiative that establishes data integration with public and private entities and academia to expand the Central's informational capacity and strengthen the production of knowledge applied to public safety. The system will incorporate private security cameras focused on the urban perimeter and information on robberies and thefts in public areas, contributing to supporting analyses and studies on criminal dynamics conducted by the Central. The cameras integrated at this time are those that meet the technical and technological criteria necessary for secure exchange with the CIVITAS Rio system.

Structured around two complementary axes, the program advances both in expanding the information base and in knowledge production. On one hand, it strengthens data integration; on the other, it promotes collaboration with universities and research centers for the development of studies, solutions, and evaluations of public policies. With this, CIVITAS Rio expands its capacity to transform data into intelligence, supporting increasingly qualified decisions, investigations, and strategies for the city's security.