District 5 has become Ho Chi Minh City’s first administrative unit to have a control center where all security camera videos in the area are gathered and analyzed.

The center, located inside the headquarters of District 5 Police, currently operates a network of 240 cameras installed across the district’s 15 wards.

Footage from the cameras is displayed simultaneously on 20 monitors at the center, which is also equipped with digital maps and a face-recognition system to quickly identify suspects.

A program installed on the center’s computers can also give out warnings of those trespassing on residential areas and public buildings, or any suspicious gathering of large groups at night.

Upon receiving an alert call or warning from the system, officers on duty will be able to view close-up footage of the location and dispatch staff to respond in a timely manner, according to Col. Nguyen Huu Dien, deputy chief of District 5 Police.

Dien added that the system would be upgraded to receive images from 1,000 cameras in 2017 and up to 3,000 cameras in 2018.

The center will be on a pilot run for a year before further decisions are made on whether to open similar centers across other districts.