Hong Kong will expand drone patrols to all major police regions from Friday, including The Peak, Cheung Chau and Lamma Island, for crime prevention, crowd control and traffic monitoring.
Superintendent Tango Ko Chung-ying of the force’s key points and search division said the second phase of the patrols, which would join existing operations in Heung Yuen Wai and Kowloon West, aimed to further test the capabilities of the drones.
“Besides a more complex terrain, we will also be encountering more policing scenarios, meaning the drones will work more closely with ground officers,” Ko said.
Both automatic and manually controlled drones will be deployed on The Peak, Cheung Chau and Lamma Island as needed, depending on operational needs and prevailing crime trends.
Ko said the force chose the three locations as they were larger and more densely populated than the Heung Yuen Wai border area and had more signal sources than the flatter, less busy border zone.
The force will also expand its manual drone patrols in urban areas to Central, Sau Mau Ping, Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan from Friday, covering one district in each major police region on land.
