Tracking wristbands, video monitoring systems and drug-detecting robots – Hong Kong tests how to make its prisons ‘smart’
- Correctional Services chief Danny Woo says new technologies can help ensure safety by detecting prisoners’ abnormal behaviour more efficiently
- Wristband will allow officers to monitor inmates’ heart rates and whereabouts in real time
Wristbands that can keep track of inmates and robotic arms that check for drugs in poo are among new technologies to be tested at three correctional institutions under a plan to make all facilities “smart prisons”, it was revealed on Thursday.
Commissioner of Correctional Services Danny Woo Ying-ming said the new technologies could help ensure safety by detecting inmates’ abnormal behaviour, including self-harm, more efficiently.
“The Correctional Services Department strives to enhance efficiency of custodial operations and security of correctional institutions through the application of innovation and technology, while protecting the safety of officers and persons in custody,” Woo said.
The robotic arm, developed by a local technology firm at a cost of HK$1 million, is likely to be tested at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre in the second quarter of this year.
Officers generally have to check inmates’ faeces manually with wooden sticks, for drugs they might have swallowed before entering prison.
The department said the robotic arm would free officers from the unpleasant task as it automatically broke down faecal matter.
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After pushing the faeces from a container to a drain, the robotic arm sprays water onto the sample to break it down and reveal any smuggled items, such as pills wrapped in plastic tape.
Woo said other new technology, such as a wristband to be tested at Lo Wu Correctional Institution, would help officers prevent suicides.
While the number of self-harm cases dropped from 99 in 2017 to 48 last year, the commissioner said two inmates took their own lives in 2018.
Correctional institutions had an average daily population of 8,303 last year, down slightly from 8,529 in 2017.
The wristband, which is similar to fitness products sold on the market, would allow officers to monitor an inmate’s heart rate and whereabouts in real time.
“If the pulse is irregular, staff will be alerted,” Woo said.
Should an inmate try to remove the wristband, the alarm will also be triggered.
Hong Kong’s prison system explained
The department is also testing a video surveillance system that can detect abnormal behaviour, such as self-harming acts, fighting and if an inmate has collapsed.
The system is being tested at four dormitories at Pik Uk Prison in the New Territories, which houses men.
According to Senior Superintendent Ng Chiu-kok, 12 security cameras are installed in a dormitory, including two in the toilet.
Should a prisoner act abnormally, such as by hitting his head on a wall, an alarm will sound in the monitoring station, prompting officers to check the dormitory.
To protect inmates’ privacy, Ng said some areas in the footage from the toilet would be obscured.
The wristbands and video surveillance system cost about HK$3.5 million in total, paid for by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.
Should the new technologies prove useful, the department said, it would deploy them at other institutions in future.
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Social welfare sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun agreed the new technologies would improve the department’s monitoring of inmates, but warned that prisoners’ rights could be harmed if the data collected was used incorrectly.
“How they will use and store the information, whether it can be abused, are sensitive issues,” Shiu said. “They need to accurately state which data the wristband records.”
Separately, the department said 81 complaints against its officers were investigated last year.
Five cases were fully substantiated while one was partially confirmed.
According to Assistant Commissioner Yeung Chun-wai, more than six officers were involved in the six cases, but he refused to say if they faced disciplinary action.
Yeung said there was no need to set up an independent body to handle complaints against officers, as the department already had a well-established protocol.
