Judul : Hong Kong police chief vows technology push with robot dogs, CCTV and drones
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Hong Kong police chief vows technology push with robot dogs, CCTV and drones
Joe Chow says more advanced technology needed to tackle crime in modern era, but automation cannot replace human officersHong Kong's police chief has pledged to use more advanced technology to beat crime as part of his "smart policing" strategy, revealing that the force is testing robot dogs at station cells and planning to expand drone patrols and install more street surveillance cameras.
In an exclusive interview, Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming told the Post that the force would have to make good use of technology in the modern era, but emphasised that automation would never replace human officers.
"Technology is something that we can ride on," Chow said. "We can make good use of it and see if we can save some manpower and enhance operational effectiveness, but it doesn't mean they can replace human beings."
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The police chief made digital policing one of his four strategic directions for the 27,000-strong force after taking office in April, succeeding Raymond Siu Chak-yee upon his retirement. Three months into his tenure, the force has been increasing the number of surveillance cameras installed across the city has started a trial of drone patrols.
Chow told the Post that police had procured a few robot dogs to explore how they could be used, with the force currently testing them by using them to conduct checks and patrols in detention cells at police stations.
"Even though now most of the detainees are aware of the CCTV, we still need some police to check the cells and to see if there's anything, maybe there are some blind spots," he said.
"But if we can deploy the robot dogs, that can also save some manpower."
He said the tests were still in the early stages, but he would look into whether robot dogs could be used for patrols in public, as well as for crowd management at mega-events in the future.
As for the ongoing pilot scheme for drone patrols, which began in late May for border areas with the first urban patrol in Yau Tsim district taking off last month, Chow said he was satisfied.
Police data showed that officers had operated 31 drone flights in Kowloon West and 197 flights at the city's northern border by the end of last month.
The top cop revealed that drone patrols in Yau Tsim district have led to the detection of four cases - two for dangerous drug possession and two for theft. The force has arrested three people connected to the four cases.
"This is because the [drone] pilot saw the live monitor and saw some people acting quite suspiciously, and then they asked the ground officers to be deployed to the scene to do the checks," Chow said.
Such cooperation helped the force confirm the identity of the suspect to be arrested.
Police aim to expand drone patrols to The Peak and Cheung Chau by the end of this year at the earliest, with Chow saying he had also asked officers in the New Territories to look into using drone patrols to combat vehicle theft cases in rural areas.
"Sometimes even if we use mobile patrols, the area may be limited, so I asked them to use drones. We are now trying to expand the usage," Chow said.
As for the "SmartView" surveillance camera installation project, Chow said the force was still targeting the installation of 2,000 sets of cameras across the city by the end of the year. Each set contains around two to three cameras, amounting to about 5,000 cameras to be installed.
Police had detected 351 cases using surveillance cameras from the "SmartView" programme up to June 30. Among them were 157 theft cases, 37 burglary cases, 29 wounding cases and five homicide cases.
Police said there had also been a reduction of between 4.2 per cent and 42.5 per cent for various street crimes such as theft from vehicles, pickpocketing, arson, robbery and wounding. The force compared the quarterly average case tally between the second quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, before the scheme was launched, with data from April 2024 to March this year.
"Whenever I go to the community and talk to [them], quite a number of the public would urge [us] to expedite the installation, even ask if they could have the CCTVs installed outside the residence," Chow said.
But the police chief said there was no definite timeline for artificial intelligence tools to be introduced to surveillance cameras, adding that the force still needed to study the feasibility and possible uses of facial recognition technology.
While Chow said he hoped technology would help with manpower issues, the ultimate goal of technology-assisted patrols was not to replace those carried out on foot by human officers.
The commissioner also said residents would want officers to be able to offer a human touch when carrying out their work, adding that communicating with drones might be difficult and interacting with robots was different from talking to a person.
"They can be our partners, but they can't replace police," Chow said.
Asked how the force could maintain the same level of deterrence associated with officers' presence, Chow noted drones and robots would have a similar presence to police vehicles or foot patrols.
Police drones have blue and red flashing lights and can broadcast messages, while robots can be used for crime prevention or even conduct arrests in the future, he said.
"It's not black and white; they can complement each other."
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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