The Commissioner of Police, Deng Bingqiang, and several senior police officers met with the media today (2) to talk about the overall public security situation in Hong Kong in 2020 and the focus of the police force this year. Deng Bingqiang said that small crowd management special-purpose vehicles would be purchased to facilitate the use in narrow streets. The police were also trying to use two low-lethal weapons, including tear gas guns and pepper ball grenades.

Deng Bingqiang said that the police had arrested 45 police officers in the past year, an increase of 21 cases a year. More than 80% of the cases were investigated and arrested by the police themselves. He stressed that the police should pay attention to the integrity of the police and be aware of the law. He also criticized the law-breakers for using false news to smear the police. The police should help the public to recognize the facts, increase the use of pepper guns and pepper spray, and do a good job of enhancing transparency and clarifying rumors to reduce misunderstanding.

The press conference also introduced the main work priorities of the police this year, including first, continuing to promote the work of safeguarding national security; Second, focus on the work of crime prevention and extermination, take intelligence-oriented actions and strengthen patrols to curb crime; Third, strengthen community ties; Fourth, continue to go all out to assist the government in its anti-epidemic work.