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Letters | Why Hong Kong need not add tasers to police arsenal: more force won’t bring peace

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A riot police officer aims pepper spray at a journalist during a protest in Hong Kong’s commercial district of Causeway Bay, in September 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
As a Hong Kong resident living in Singapore, I am bewildered to learn that the Hong Kong Police Force is looking to include tasers in their arsenal.

While tasers are regarded as a lesser use of force than guns, the public already lacks confidence in the police’s capacity to use any form of force appropriately. Additions to the police arsenal would not be regarded as a reduction of violence on the part of the police force.

If any incidents of misuse occur in the near future, such as seen in the shooting of an unarmed protester by an officer in November, there is bound to be another public outcry.

Despite the fact that there are still protests around the city, the movement has already de-escalated from its peak, when everyday life was completely disrupted by the frequent roadblocks and non-cooperation movements.

Though no deals have been struck between the government and protesters, social order appears to have been slowly restored. Hongkongers need time and space to recover from the trauma of the last six months of turmoil, and now the fear of the new coronavirus.

It would be unwise for any stakeholders, especially a body that has already been at the forefront of the controversy, to rekindle the animosity in society. I seriously urge the Hong Kong police to reconsider and make the right choice in the public interest.

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