Pro-dems question need for water cannon crowd control trucks as police show off capabilities

With fresh accusations of excessive force still flying after a fierce crackdown on protests yesterday, police today demonstrated the capabilities of their new water cannon-equipped “specialized crowd management vehicles,” which authorities are considering unleashing on the city’s protesters.

Pro-dem lawmakers who attended the demonstration held a mini-protest against police brutality, holding posters that accused police of “attempted murder” and questioning whether the vehicles were safe. Pro-Beijing lawmakers, meanwhile, welcomed the new crowd control option, while one, unapologetic firebrand Junius Ho, loudly called the pro-dems “bloody idiots,” according to Stand News.

The police used dummies of the sort found in boxing gyms to demonstrate the efficacy of the trucks’ water cannons at 20, 30, and 40 meters.

At 20 meters, the truck’s main cannon easily sent the heavy-bottomed dummies sliding across the pavement.

“We will use the vehicles when there are large-scale disturbances that can lead to casualties or traffic disturbances in major roads, which threaten public order and safety,” police representatives at the test said, adding that it was not an “easy decision” to use the vehicles.

Lawmakers questions whether tear agents or dyes to mark protesters would be added to the trucks’ water supply, as has been suggested. The police force said that depended on the situation, but they would consider adding pepper spray-based solutions, though they would not be harmful to people on a permanent basis.

After the demonstration, pro-dem lawmaker Au Nok-hin called the water cannon trucks “outdated,” saying their use in other countries had resulted in severe injuries. Fellow pro-dem Raymond Chan called the truck a “murder weapon,” saying the police force already had enough weapons at its disposal and didn’t need more.

Pro-establishment lawmaker and LegCo security panel head Gary Chan, meanwhile, said he believed the police had clear guidelines for deploying the vehicles, and would warn protesters before using them.

Water cannons provide a new strategy for the force and can make sure protesters maintain a “safe distance,” he added, calling them “a good thing” overall.