Robot warders check on inmates as Hong Kong tests ‘smart prison’ devices to step up security, surveillance
- Prisons hope technology can ease workload of hard-pressed staff, many of whom quit
- Upgraded CCTV cameras, wristbands will let prison staff monitor inmates more closely
Hong Kong’s prison authority will test facial recognition technology, tracking wristbands and robot warders to create a “super security and surveillance system” and hopefully ease the load on hard-pressed staff, the prison chief has said.
As part of the “smart prison” initiative to modernise the city’s correctional facilities, a closed-circuit television system with a video analytics function to detect suspicious behaviour among inmates is being tested, as is a smart wristband.
Commissioner of Correctional Services Danny Woo Ying-ming told the Post the CCTV camera can be equipped with facial recognition technology, while the wristband, which have to be scanned before entering a room, can be used in future to verify inmates’ identities and monitor their whereabouts at any given time.
“If I want to know how many inmates and who exactly is in the sewing factory, for example, the three systems can work together,” he said.
“At present our staff have to do a manual headcount, which does not verify inmates’ identities. You don’t know who is who.”