New police weapon rules are a big worry: lawmaker

New police weapon rules are a big worry: lawmaker

Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting warned on Thursday that new guidelines the police have reportedly introduced on the use of weapons could lead to an abuse of power and a deterioration in the situation in Hong Kong.



Sources told RTHK that the police have relaxed their guidelines on the use of weapons in dangerous situations, with media reports saying amendments were made to the “Force Procedures Manual” on September 30.



The following day, as violent clashes broke out across the city on National Day, police fired several live rounds – shooting one teenager in the chest at close range.



Before the guidelines were changed, officers had to ascertain whether an assailant had the intention to cause death or serious injury before lethal force could be used.



But the revised version is said to stipulate that officers can fire live rounds when facing an assault that causes, or is "relatively likely" to cause death or serious injury.



The internal document also reportedly downgrades some weapons, such as extendable batons, rubber bullets and water cannons as being "non-lethal" weapons, whereas they were categorised as being more serious before.



Lam, who is a member of Legco's security panel, said he was concerned that the revisions could lead to weapons being used more often by officers.



"The revision of the guidelines of the use of force provide more room for the frontline officers to interpret on their own and they can use [higher] level weapons to deal with different situations," he said.



"Because of the poor judgement of the police force, I'm afraid that they may exaggerate the seriousness of an attack. If they abuse their power, or use excessive force, the situation of Hong Kong will turn from bad to worse."



The police did not respond to RTHK's enquiries on the matter.