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Operations of Kowloon East (OPS KE) carried out an analysis on previous mountain search and rescue (SAR) operations. The outcome indicated the importance of optimising night-time SAR. Hence Project TRACKTRACE was launched in July to introduce the application of acoustic cameras and new features of small unmanned aircraft (SUA) for enhancing the Force’s ability to locate missing persons during mountain SAR after sunset.
Officers of OPS KE demonstrated the new features and searching capability of the equipment at the Police College on July 24, attracting over 100 participants from six Regions, Police Tactical Unit Headquarters, Key Points and Search Division, and Technical Services Division. The demonstration simulated a scenario of a hiker getting lost on Nam Long Shan. Officers on the ground used microphones of the acoustic camera to collect sounds from the hill and visualised the location of the sound on the control panel. Having successfully detected the ring tone of a mobile phone and the sound of shouting for help from the hill, officers narrowed down the search area and then located the missing person successfully by means of the thermal imaging camera, coordinate function, searchlight and speaker as well as dropping system of the SUA to start the rescue operation.
The participants expressed that the acoustic camera and the enhanced features of SUA could help them further grasp the golden window for night search to increase the possibility of rescuing missing persons in mountainous areas.
