Sant Feliu de Guíxols: a change of model in record time

After only a year and a half, Sant Feliu de Guíxols has been able to measure and quantify the great results generated with video surveillance systems. The vision of the Local Police Corps and the confidence of the council of the municipality of the lower Empordà town cemented a project that, since its inception, began to bear fruit.

The project has had two defined lines since its inception: the first, public safety, with the implementation of license plate readers, strategically placed at different accesses to the municipality; and the second, traffic control and road indiscipline, by means of access controls to traffic-restricted areas that also use license plate reading technology.

From the information captured by these systems, the police force has managed to add value to its work, using it proactively for investigations, analysis, reaction to potential threats, etc., obtaining very positive results in its daily operations. In addition, it should be noted that the implementation and development of this improvement in the operation of the police force has been smooth from the beginning and has managed to significantly optimize the human resources of the Local Police.

Stable improvement of safety indicators

The police force quantifies the decrease in criminal activity in the most sensitive and/or conflictive areas at 54%. The video surveillance systems have also facilitated the resolution of more than 40 criminal cases thanks to the evidence of charges extracted from the systems. These data have a very positive impact on citizens’ sense of security. Subjective indicators point in this direction, and towards a sense of social peace.

This sense of security helps Sant Feliu de Guíxols to be perceived as a quiet town with a high quality of life, which improves tourism, one of its most important economic engines.

Traffic, another area of good results

Internal traffic management through video surveillance systems has also contributed to improve the pacification of the urban core and the downtown commercial area. These systems make it possible to regulate vehicle access to these areas, improving urban planning, boosting commerce, reducing traffic and noise and environmental pollution; and therefore, increasing the quality of life of citizens.