Special monitoring devices catching droppers in the act

Special monitoring devices designed to catch people who drop things from tall buildings in Songjiang District's Huiminxuan Community have achieved good results.

Huiminxuan's property office has a screen linking 12 different monitoring devices. "We introduced these devices in November, which have recorded five instances so far. Even little things like a turnip stick can be spotted," said a manager at the property office.

Huiminxuan is a mixed community of resettlement and commercial housing. Five of its six buildings are 23 stories tall. Lacking effective means, the community used to have trouble identifying culprits.

When a monitoring device captures a falling object, the platform automatically sounds an alarm. Property management staff can then view the object's falling trajectory and quickly determine the floor from which it was thrown and the person responsible – even at night.

"We still emphasize educating people first, but the monitoring devices are really a great tool," said an official with Maluqiao Subdistrict.