3
Wednesday, December 13, 1972
Mr. Wong also said if there are those who are thinking of a
policeman planting an offensive weapon on an innocent individual, he would
say this is unlikely because the policeman would be putting his future
career in jeopardy.
Mr. Ann told the Council that "there is very seldom a bill that
has received such wide support from the public like this one."
"The people feel relieved that violent crimes are beginning to
the attacked on all three fronts: administratively, legislatively and
judicially," he said.
Mr. Ann pointed out that fear of detection is only workable when
there is fear of the penalty after detection, and said now that proposals
are provided by the bill, "the initial successes will, I am sure, give to
the people great encouragement to co-operate."
Minimum Sentences
In the long run, he said, minimum sentences proposed for robbery
or serious assaults may be the "sine qua non for stamping out the spreading
crimes."
However, he suggested that what is and is not an offensive weapon
should be clearly expressed in Chinese language, that corrosive acid should
be included, that more plainclothes policemen be employed "to watch the
crime from within", and that the definition of "public place" be made more
specifically known.
Mr. Wilson Wang, speaking in Cantonese, pointed to the "alarming"
element of violence so often evident in robbery crimes and gang fights theso
days, and said the proposed mandatory minimum sentence is not unreasonable.
"The proposal.