Police Chief Says Water Cannons Ready To Use Soon

Police Commissioner Stephen Lo says the force's new water cannons will be ready to deploy as soon as the second quarter of this year.

Speaking at a press conference on the force's annual performance, Lo said he could not disclose the force's guidelines for using the new vehicle as doing so would compromise its operations. The German-made vehicles arrived in Hong Kong last year at a cost of HK$16.5 million.

Meanwhile he declined to apologise for a baton attack by a superintended during the 2014 Occupy protests.

Frankly Chu was jailed for three months for assault after hitting a passer-by in Mong Kok. The Court of Final Appeal rejected his application to challenge the conviction and sentence.

"This is an individual case, and the whole facts have been debated at various levels in court," Lo said. "The corresponding result has come out. Whether we like it or not, it has materialised already."

He said people should take into account the unprecedented circumstances of the Occupy protests.

And Lo also addressed a sharp increase in the number of police officers arrested last year. The number rose to 45, from 29 in 2017.

"We are highly concerned about the integrity of the individual officers," Lo said. "From time to time we do have bad apples within the organisation and there could be multiple reasons behind them. It could be personal greed, desire, unhealthy lifestyle or peer influence."