One of the new equipment that the police tried the night before last was a large barrel pepper spray propelled by compressed gas, with a range of 20 meters, 10 times the range of ordinary pepper spray for ordinary police officers. (Photographed by Su Zhixin)

Another new type of equipment for trial is "pepper ball launcher". The oval end of the gun is a compressed gas bottle, and the cashew shaped object on the top of the barrel is a magazine. (Photographed by Zhong Linzhi)

[Ming Pao News] In the clearance operation carried out by the police in West Ring the night before yesterday, the police special tactical team, commonly known as the "fast dragon team", was equipped with many new equipment for trial use. Some people in the police force described it as "the new equipment test ground". Among them, some members of the "Speed Dragon Team" carry a pepper spray that is shaped like an oxygen cylinder and consists of two cylinders. Because it is driven by compressed gas, it is understood that the range can reach 20 meters, which is 10 times and 4 times the range of ordinary and large pepper spray.

It is understood that this pepper ball spray can be mixed with pigments, which is difficult to wash when sprayed on the body, so as to identify troublemakers and facilitate the pursuit. However, the source pointed out that there were not many masked demonstrators on the scene the night before yesterday, so no pigments were used. A front-line police officer said that this equipment or the storage of compressed gas limited by the fire regulations may not be able to store in large quantities.

Try the0.68 "pepper ball launcher" with a range of 45 meters

In addition, the police decided to try out the "0.68 Pepper Ball Launcher" after reviewing the Mong Kok Incident. When a pepper ball is hit on a demonstrator, it will explode and emit pepper spray. It is understood that the modified Pepperball Carbine-SX was tested the night before yesterday, and was launched by compressed gas. According to the company's website, the prototype design of this model has a target accuracy of about 18 meters, an effective range of about 45 meters, and is equipped with a designated magazine, which can hold up to 450 pepper balls. According to the news, the above two new equipment are still in the trial stage and have not been included in the constant equipment, so the number of trials last night is not large.