Exclusive | Anti-riot vehicles equipped with water cannons to begin road tests in Hong Kong and could be ready to disperse protesters in August
- Designed for crowd control and costing more than US$2 million, the Mercedes-Benz vehicles have been stationed in Fanling since May
- Force considering spraying liquid dye at radical protesters to make identifying suspects easier, senior police source reveals
Three controversial anti-riot vehicles armed with water cannons will hit the streets of Hong Kong this week and be ready to handle unrest by mid-August if they pass road tests, the Post has learned.
Operational guidelines had been finalised and the force was weighing up whether to use the vehicles to spray liquid dye on radical protesters to make identifying suspects easier, a senior police insider revealed.
Designed for crowd control and costing a total of HK$16.59 million (US$2.12 million), the Mercedes-Benz vehicles arrived in the city in May last year and have since been stationed at the Police Tactical Unit headquarters in Fanling for training.
While some top brass want to deploy the new alternative “as soon as possible” in light of escalating violence in recent protests, the armoured cars still need to pass road tests as requested, the insider said.
“A test has been scheduled. We will drive the vehicles onto the streets later this week and test them for several days,” the source said.