Revealed: the HK$30million anti-riot cars Hong Kong police have never even used
Purpose-built anti-riot armoured vehicles can electrify their exterior and ‘could have stopped the riot in five minutes’ according to one officer
A HK$30 million fleet of purpose-built anti-riot armoured vehicles owned by the Hong Kong police force have never been deployed on the SAR’s streets in a real operation – six years after they were bought, it has emerged.
Almost two weeks after Mong Kok was rocked by ten hours of riots – the policing of which has prompted an internal force review and sparked rancour among the rank-and-file – the Sunday Morning Post has discovered that six state-of-the-art armoured personnel carriers have only been used for training and ceremonial purposes.
According to one officer, the vehicles “could have stopped the riot in five minutes.”
The six Mercedes-Benz Unimog U5000 armoured vehicles were manufactured by German car giant Mercedes and modified in France by a company specialising in heavy-duty, blast -proof armour plating .
News of the semi-mothballed vehicles comes as the force is about to spend another HK$27 million on water cannon in the wake of the 2014 Occupy protests and the Mong Kok riot.
Photographs of the exteriors and interiors of the Unimogs taken in 2014 – four years after they were delivered – which we publish today show the vehicles in almost pristine condition.
The Post asked the force a list of questions, including the number of times the Unimogs had been deployed on non-training, non-ceremonial operations over the past six years and why they were not deployed at the Mong Kok riot.
Those questions were deflected by a police spokesman, who said: “Given the confidential nature of police operational deployments, we will not disclose the requested details.
“Police are equipped with a wide range of equipment. Having regard to the actual circumstances and the needs of individual operations, Police will make operational deployment [decisions] and deploy manpower and equipment in accordance with the actual situation.’’
Why are they buying three water cannons when these seriously effective pieces of kit have been lying as good as idle
A security source with a knowledge of the police fleet said: “Why are they buying three water cannons when these seriously effective pieces of kit have been lying as good as idle – except for PTU [police tactical unit] passing out parades and training?
“They are equipped with a powerful sonic capability and the exterior can be electrified to shock anyone who touches the thing. They could have stopped the Mong Kok riot in five minutes flat,’’ the security source said.
Police chiefs have promised a full review of the handling of the Mong Kok riot amid claims of a lack of equipment and manpower by frontline officers.
Versions of the Unimog are used by militaries across the world, including the People’s Liberation Army, the United States Marine Corps and the Israeli Defence Force.
Additional reporting by Christy Leung
