XN000022-1972-12-13 — Page 4

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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.