Hong Kong police to use public address drones to fight rural burglary over summer holidays

“In previous cases, we are aware that criminals tend to target hillside houses, exploiting the hours of darkness and the cover of the jungle to commit burglaries.”

Man said his district had recorded 12 rural burglary cases in the first five months of the year, a 9 per cent increase on the same period in 2023.

The biggest case involved losses worth HK$260,000 from a home where cash, interior decorations and diamond jewellery stored in a safe were stolen.

The force said announcements designed to ensure the public remained vigilant and report any suspicious activity in bushland and forests would be broadcast from drones flying around burglary hotspots, such as villages and hillside residential areas in Clear Water Bay and Sheung Sze Wan in Sai Kung.

Officers said messages in Cantonese, English and Bahasa Indonesia would be played.

But the force said they would only be broadcast at dusk on days when the risk of burglary was thought to be high, rather than on a regular basis in a bid to avoid disturbance to nearby households.

“In addition to raising public awareness, it is equally important to help the public strengthen their crime prevention capabilities,” Wong added.

The rural patrol cadre, the small unmanned aircraft cadre from Kowloon East region and the police dog team on Tuesday joined forces for an Sai Kung exercise designed to simulate police efforts to trace a burglar in a rural area.

Officers first flew a drone over the beach near Sheung Sze Wan to track down the suspect using a heat sensor attached to the top of the tiny aircraft.

The sensor showed an individual walking towards the beach, who was distinguishable from the rest of the landscape because of a different heat signature.

An officer alerted the rural patrol cadre and a police dog handler to be positioned to intercept.

The suspect was later subdued by uniformed officers and a police dog.

The exercise helped show officers how criminals were tracked down in rural areas with dense foliage and uneven terrain.