Hong Kong leads the way for smart prisons
TECHNOLOGY has impacted every aspect of life so it should not be surprising that prisons should adopt the latest technology to improve efficiency and safety. Leading the way is Hong
Kong whose Correctional Services Department is in the process of transforming its prison system into “smart prisons”.
Its Correctional Services Commissioner Woo Ying-ming has said that last year there were 4,265 disciplinary charges against inmates, a figure which he described as “high”. Of that lot, 483 were cases involving violence. There were also 48 self-harm cases and two suicides.
The smart prison trial projects include three main thrusts: A video analytics monitoring system, a monitoring wristband and a robotic arm that searches for drugs hidden in human faeces.
VIDEO ANALYTICS
A high-tech CCTV system that’s augmented by Artificial Intelligence is currently being tested at four dormitories at Pik Uk Prison in the New Territories. This system is designed to help detect erratic and aggressive actions by the inmates, specifically looking out for fights and suicide attempts. When suspicious movements are detected, the system will send off an alert to the prison staff.
“If there’s a fight in the canteen, the motion would be different from the quiet state, like in usual circumstances,” Hong Kong’s Security Minister John Lee Ka-chiu said. “Experts gathered lots of data and input it into the system so that the computer can analyse the captured motion. The authorities can draw manpower instantly and intervene in a fight if notified about abnormal behaviour.”
Under the current system, prison officers monitor inmates through foot patrol and by watching CCTV footage in real time. This is an inefficient approach and they can sometimes miss catching certain events. The new system is not fool-proof but it will certainly help them catch more “abnormal” movements or actions that require their attention.
It should be noted that the AI-augmented system is not designed to replace human staff but to complement them. The guards will still have to monitor the CCTV screens but they’re less likely to miss things with this system in place.
Interestingly, another Asian country, Singapore, is also trying out a similar “smart” surveillance system at Changi Prison. Dubbed “Avatar”, the human behaviour detection system also uses sophisticated algorithms to detect abnormal prisoner movements.
WRISTBANDS
Fitness buffs aren’t the only people who wear fitness tracker wristbands. If the trial goes well, all Hong Kong prisoners will have this too - but not to monitor their exercise routines. Rather, the smart bracelets (or wristbands) will help keep track of the inmates’ vital signs.
The wristbands, which will be trialled at the Lo Wu Correctional Institution, will allow the guards to monitor the wearer’s heart rates and whereabouts at all time. If the pulse is irregular, for whatever reason, the guards will be alerted immediately.
This can help to not only save the prisoner if he is having a heart attack or seizure of some kind but also if he is trying to do harm to himself or commit suicide. The alarm will also be triggered if an inmate tries to remove the wristband
ROBOTS
The Hong Kong prison system will also have robots but not the kind that you would probably imagine. No, there will not be robot guards patrolling the prison anytime soon. Rather, the robots are robotic arms that will be used to detect illegal drugs in faecal matter.
Apparently, it is common for new inmates to try to bring drugs into the prison by swallowing the drugs contained in plastic bags and then pooping them out once they are inside the prison.
Under the current system, human guards go through the faeces using wooden sticks to search for any illegal drugs. You can easily imagine the relief these guards will feel once the robotic arms are introduced to all the prisons.
How it will work is after the faeces is poured from a container into a drain, the robotic arms will then use jets of water to break down the faecal matter. Any contraband such as pills wrapped in plastic will be found. Trials of this system will be conducted at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
While all these technological innovations will no doubt improve efficiency and safety in Hong Kong prisons, privacy advocates are also concerned that they may be too invasive towards the inmates who, despite being prisoners, should have some basic rights to privacy as well.
For example, the smart video surveillance system includes placing cameras in bathrooms and the smart wristbands tracks prisoners’ vital signs 24/7. The potential for leaks, hacks or abuse of the information is there.
Hong Kong’s social welfare sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun agrees that the new technologies should help improve the monitoring of inmates for their own safety but warns 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.”
Security Minister Lee, however, says the authorities have consulted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and concluded that the technology would not breach any of Hong Kong’s privacy laws.
Privacy concerns aside, the use of technology to improve prisons should be a welcome move. It will help the guards do their job better and relieve them of the more unpleasant aspects of their jobs. And it will help them to detect faster any untoward incidents happening in the prison population so they can intervene immediately. If Hong Kong’s experiment is successful, it can be the benchmark for other prisons around the world when they upgrade their prisons.