LCQ9: Internet Protocol Camera Scheme

     Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (December 18):
 
Question:
 
​     In December 2016, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) launched a pilot scheme under which Internet Protocol (IP) cameras were installed at six illegal refuse deposit blackspots (blackspots) across the territory to step up efforts in combating acts of illegal refuse deposit. The scheme is now called the "Internet Protocol Camera Scheme" (the Scheme). From June 2018 to May 2019, FEHD installed IP cameras at 118 blackspots across the territory under the Scheme. FEHD has extended the Scheme for two years starting from the third quarter of 2019, and will install IP cameras at 150 blackspots across the territory in phases according to the locations and priorities proposed by the various District Councils (DCs). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the locations of the 150 blackspots at which IP cameras will be installed (set out by DC district);
 
(2) given that FEHD will, after installing IP cameras at targeted locations, monitor such locations to suitably adjust its plans, of the guidelines or criteria based on which FEHD makes decisions on changing the locations of cameras; the number of occasions on which FEHD made such changes since the implementation of the Scheme, and set out the information relevant to each change, including the reasons for and the date of the change, as well as the locations of the IP cameras before and after the change;
 
(3) of the number of blackspots in each DC district in each year since the implementation of the Scheme; the change in the number of cases in which vehicles owners were prosecuted and convicted for illegal dumping of refuse, subsequent to the implementation of the Scheme;
 
(4) as FEHD has indicated that recorded footage which has not captured suspected cases will be deleted after random checking, of the average retention period of such footage (with a breakdown by DC district), and the details of the relevant random checks, including the procedure to be followed, the frequency of random checks and the target number of footage to be inspected during each random check; and
 
(5) of the number of occasions on which FEHD provided recorded footage to other government departments since the implementation of the Scheme, and set out, by name of department, the details of each occasion on which recorded footage was provided, including the reasons for and the date of providing the relevant footage, as well as the locations of the IP cameras concerned?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
​     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) launched a scheme on installation of Internet Protocol (IP) cameras (the Scheme) in June 2018 to combat illegal refuse dumping in various districts. As District Councils (DCs) indicated that the hygiene condition of relevant illegal refuse dumping spots showed significant improvement after the implementation of the Scheme, the FEHD has extended the Scheme for two years from August 2019 after consulting the DCs. The FEHD will install IP cameras at priority locations proposed by the DCs with a view to stepping up efforts to combat illegal refuse dumping activities. 
 
     My reply to the Member's question is as follows:
 
(1) The FEHD has installed IP cameras at 150 illegal refuse dumping spots. The locations are listed at Annex 1.
 
(2) If illegal refuse dumping at individual spots is significantly abated (e.g. evident decrease in the amount of refuse dumped or in the number of related complaints) upon installation of IP cameras, the FEHD will install cameras at new locations and change the recording locations as prioritised by the DCs. From June 2018 to November 2019, the FEHD changed the recording locations for 33 times. Details are at Annex 2.
 
(3) The DCs have proposed a list of locations for installation of IP cameras in FEHD's consultation exercise in 2019. The number of locations proposed by each DC is at Annex 3. The number of cases in which vehicle owners were prosecuted and convicted for illegal refuse dumping from June 2018 to November 2019 is at Annex 4.
 
(4) The FEHD conducts monthly random checks on recorded footage. Footage without suspected cases being captured will be deleted, which means the footage will be retained for about one month on average.
 
(5) The FEHD provided recorded footage to other government departments in response to their requests for crime prevention or detection purpose. Such provision from June 2018 to November 2019 with districts, departments and request dates is set out at Annex 5.