TNAG-0003-FCO40-39-Commission-of-Enquiry-into-the-Kowloon-disturbances-addition-1968 — Page 87

lice

uch

ega.

ined

the

nce'.

nger

the

e us

used

ntain

Leral,

>nant

ttain

the

rmed

only

anies

anies

been d the

would

en the

its of

crowd

addi- e this

large false

· man-

iger in made lemon-

1 units small

>rovide s, thus

1

PART IV

THE MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH THE DISTURBANCES

67

extending the measure of confidence and assurance they engender among the residents. This view is supported by the evidence of witnesses who said that they expected trouble to arise because of the absence of police in the side streets off Nathan Road. It may well be that this increased effectiveness cannot be achieved without an increase in manpower available to the police; if so, we would recommend consideration of increasing the strength of the Auxiliary Police Force or of making the services of the Hong Kong Regiment available earlier, a matter to which we refer in the next chapter.

245. Regarding the use of weapons, there was evidence that batons were not particularly effective owing to the crowds melting away as soon as a charge was mounted and reappearing in another place. We were also told that tear smoke was ineffective at times owing to unfavourable wind conditions or to the crowds retreating beyond range. We deal with the use of firearms in paragraph 247 below.

246. We note that the use of all these weapons is common in riot suppression elsewhere in the world and although they may have their disadvantages, we see no reason to question the principles on which they were used on this occasion. Some witnesses spoke of tear smoke having been used indiscriminately and on bystanders e.g. crowds coming out of cinemas. While we have little doubt that bystanders did suffer from tear smoke and that, as a result, some might have been tempted to join an unruly crowd, we have no direct evidence of this. Also, we note from the evidence of a social scientist that it is well known in the psychology of riots that the bystander who gets involved tends to be drawn in with the mobs since, in the nature of things, he cannot participate in disciplined units of the police. Provided that adequate warnings are given by the police, and the evidence indicated that, in general, they were, there is no reason for innocent bystanders to get critically involved unless they are impelled by a curiosity which overcomes their sense of danger.

Use of firearms

247. We have examined the occasions on which firearms were used and heard evidence on the orders governing their use. Details of the amount of ammunition of all types used and of the occasions on which firearms were used are given in Appendices 9 and 10.

248. We note that a total of 93 rounds of ammunition were fired and that one death and three injuries were caused by gunshot wounds. Various reasons were given for this very low casualty rate, which was not, however, particularly surprising because, being night-time, visibility was poor and accuracy of aim at a distance was not possible; moreover many shots were aimed at the tops of buildings and some were deliberately aimed over the heads of the crowds.