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A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. Most water cannons fall under the category of a fire monitor.
Water cannons were first devised for use on fireboats. Extinguishing fires on boats and buildings near the water was much more difficult and dangerous before fireboats were invented. The first fireboat deployed in Los Angeles was commissioned on 1 August 1919. The first fireboat in New York City was Marine 1, deployed 1 February 1891. There may have been other fireboats elsewhere even earlier.
Fire trucks deliver water with much the same force and volume as water cannons, and have even been used in riot control situations, but are rarely referred to as water cannons outside this context.
The first truck-mounted water cannon was used for riot control in Germany in the beginning of the 1930s. [1]
The most modern versions do not expose the operator to the riot, and are controlled remotely from within the vehicle by a joystick. The Austrian-built WaWe 10.000 by Rosenbauer used by German police can carry 10,000 litres (2,200 imp gal) of water, which can deploy water in all directions via three cannons, all of which are remotely controlled from inside the vehicle by a joystick. The vehicle has two forward cannons with a delivery rate of 20 litres per second (260 imp gal/min), and one rear cannon with a delivery rate of 15 litres per second (200 imp gal/min)[ citation needed ]
Water cannons designed for riot control are still made in the United States and the United Kingdom, but most products are exported, particularly to Africa and parts of Asia such as Indonesia.[ citation needed ]
Use of water cannon in riot control contexts can lead to injury or death, [2] with fatalities recorded in Indonesia (in 1996, when the cannon's payload contained ammonia), [3] Zimbabwe (in 2007, when the use of cannons on a peaceful crowd caused panic), [4] Turkey (in 2013, when the payload was laced with "liquid tear gas"), [5] Ukraine (in 2014, with the death of activist and businessman Bogdan Kalynyak, reportedly catching pneumonia after being sprayed by a water cannon in freezing temperatures) [6] and South Korea (in 2016, when a 68-year-old farmer died after injuries sustained by a water cannon the previous year). [7] Water cannons in use during the 1960s, which were generally adapted fire trucks, would knock protesters down and on occasion, tear their clothes.
On 30 September 2010, during a protest demonstration against the Stuttgart 21 project in Germany, a demonstrator was hit in the face by a water cannon. [8] Dietrich Wagner, a retired engineer, suffered damage to his eyelids and retinas, [9] resulting in near-complete loss of his eyesight. [8] [10] Graphic imagery was recorded of the event, sparking a national debate about police brutality and proportionality in the use of state force.
According to a report issued in the United Kingdom,[ citation needed ] using plastic bullets instead of water cannons was justified because the latter "are inflexible and indiscriminate", although several people had previously been killed [11] or seriously injured by plastic bullets.[ citation needed ]
The presence of the media at riots has had a significant impact on water cannon use. There is much pressure on police departments to avoid bad publicity, and water cannons often play badly in the press. It is considered that this is a likely reason[ according to whom? ] that they are not used more often in some countries.
Confrontations that took place in the era of the American Civil Rights Movement, where water cannons were used by authorities to disperse crowds of protesting African Americans, has led to the demise of water cannons in the United States. [12]
In 1997, pink dye was reportedly added to the water used by South Korean and Indonesian police to disperse a riot. [13] The implication is that they might use this mark to make it easier to arrest rioters later. The United Kingdom, which had sold the water cannon to Indonesia, condemned this practice (although the Royal Ulster Constabulary had used a water cannon with purple dye during The Troubles in Northern Ireland) but later approved the sale of further water cannons to them. Most modern water cannons are also capable of adding tear gas to the stream.[ citation needed ]
In 2004, Jaycor Tactical Systems was experimenting with additives (salt and additives to reduce the breakup of the stream into droplets) that would allow electricity to be conducted through water. They have demonstrated delivery from a distance of up to 20 ft (6.1 m), but have not yet tested the device on people. [14]
Although referred to as an electrified water cannon, this experiment involved a water jet much less powerful than a water cannon.
Water cannon differ from other similar devices in the volume of water delivered in a given time, the nozzle speed, the pressure that it is delivered at, and to a lesser extent the total volume that can be delivered. They are also generally portable. The method of employment is also important in labeling a device a water cannon. Nevertheless, the distinction between a water cannon and other similar devices is fuzzy. For example:-
Water cannon are still in large scale use in Chile, Belgium, the Netherlands and other parts of the world.
The State of New South Wales in Australia purchased a water cannon in 2007, with a view to using it during an APEC meeting in Sydney that year. [17] [18] It was not used. [19] It was the first purchase of a water cannon in Australia.
The annual riots on 1 May in Berlin, the Schanzenfest fair in Hamburg, which regularly ends in riots, or other demonstrations, are usually accompanied by water cannon, which support riot police. The most commonly used water cannon in Germany over years was the Wasserwerfer 9000. Since 2019, the only water cannon type used by riot police, which are around 50 units in total, is the Wasserwerfer 10000.
Three truck-mounted water cannon, officially known as 'Specialised Crowd Management Vehicles', were purchased by Hong Kong Police from France in mid-2018. [20] The truck chassis were provided by Mercedes-Benz and the water spray devices were also made by German firm Ziegler. [21] The three water cannon cost HK$27 million to purchase, a sum that was criticised as overpriced.[ citation needed ] The vehicles were frequently used by police on participants and bystanders during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. Blue dye was often added to the water to allow police to identify protesters. Pepper spray solution was also an ingredient. [22] [23]
On 20 October 2019, police used a water cannon to target and shoot a small group of pedestrians standing outside Kowloon Mosque, in Tsim Sha Tsui, using blue-dyed water mixed with a pepper solution. A large number of Hong Kong residents spontaneously went to the scene to clean up, with the incident resulting in an increased sense of inclusiveness among the Hong Kong public toward the city's Muslim and other minorities. [24] [25] [26]
Since the 1980s, Israel has been exporting water cannons to numerous countries around the world. [27] Bet Alpha Technologies, a company owned by Kibbutz Bet Alpha, has sold water cannons to Russia, [28] China, [29] Turkey, [30] United States, [31] Latvia, Zambia, Argentina and Swaziland [32] amounting to millions of dollars in sales. The Israel Police have made extensive use of water cannons during demonstrations. Its water canons are capable of spraying jets of water, paint (used to mark protesters for later arrest), gas, and Skunk in long or short pulses in an effective range of 40 meters. They are controlled controlled by a joystick and set of cameras and is equipped with a mine plow allows the vehicle to break through and push through hard barriers like barricades placed on the road. During the 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests, the Israel Police allegedly violated its own procedures when on several occasions they fired water streams directly toward protesters' heads, causing damage to the vision of some of them. [33] [34] [35]
During the 2020 Thai protests, on 16 October 2020, the police used water cannon claimed to have water containing an irritant that made protesters' eyes sting to disperse a peaceful protest in Bangkok. [36] [37]
The Turkish police water cannon TOMA has been used against protesters many times, including the 2013 protests in Turkey, [38] and are often present at protests of all sizes.
Only six water cannons are operational in the United Kingdom, all held by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI); these are Somati RCV9000 Vehicle Mounted Water Cannons built on GINAF chassis, which after extensive evaluation by a Defence Scientific Advisory Council sub-committee as a less-lethal replacement of baton rounds, began to enter service with the PSNI from 2004 onwards. [39] [40] [41] Water cannon use outside Northern Ireland is not approved, and would require the statutory authorisation from the Home Secretary for use in England and Wales [42] or the parliament of Scotland for use in Scotland.[ citation needed ]
In June 2014, London's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Stephen Greenhalgh authorised the Metropolitan Police to buy three second-hand Wasserwerfer 9000s from the German Federal Police. Mayor of London Boris Johnson said that the purchase had been authorised before Parliamentary approval, as the three cannons cost £218,000 to purchase and would require a further £125,000 of work before being deemed suitable for service, as opposed to £870,000 for a single new machine. [43] But after a study of their safety and effectiveness, Home Secretary Theresa May said in Parliament in July 2015 that she had decided not to license them for use. [44] They were sold in November 2018 with the intention that they were to be broken up for spare parts. [45]
Truck-based water cannon, and fire hoses used as improvised water cannons, were used widely in the United States during the 1960s for both riot control and suppressing peaceful civil rights marches, including the infamous use ordered by Eugene "Bull" Connor in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. [46] [47] The newsreel footage of police turning water cannons and police dogs on civilians—both student protesters and bystanders alike, including children as young as six—widely viewed as shocking and inappropriate and helped turn public sympathies towards civil rights. [48] Water cannons were used in November 2016 during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. [49] In August 2020, state senator Floyd Prozanski suggested water cannons be used by police against protesters in Portland, Oregon. [50]
Water cannons are used in hydraulic mining to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold. It is also used in mining kaolin and coal.
The term "water cannon" could also refer to:-
Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest.
Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots.
The Police Tactical Unit is a unit within the Hong Kong Police Force which provides an immediate manpower reserve for use in large-scale emergencies. Unit companies are attached to all land Regions and are available for internal security, crowd control, anti-crime operations, disaster response and riot control throughout Hong Kong. The PTU is often referred as the 'Blue Berets', which is in reference to the blue berets worn as part of the uniform.
The Purple Rain Protest, Purple Rain Revolt or Purple Rain Riot was an anti-apartheid protest held in Cape Town on 2 September 1989, four days before South Africa's racially segregated parliament held its elections. A police water cannon with purple dye was turned on thousands of Mass Democratic Movement supporters who poured into the city in an attempt to march on South Africa's Parliament. White office blocks adjacent to Greenmarket Square were sprayed purple four stories high as a protester leapt onto the roof of the water cannon vehicle, seized the nozzle and attempted to turn the jet away from the crowds.
The Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS) is the full-time riot squad of the New South Wales Police Force. PORS reports via the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command to the Deputy Commissioner Investigations and Counter Terrorism.
Skunk is a malodorant, non-lethal weapon used for crowd control by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and marketed to militaries and law enforcement around the world. It was developed and is manufactured by Odortec, with two supporting companies, Man and Beit-Alfa Technologies. The liquid's strong odor is marketed as an improvement over other crowd control weapons (CCWs) such as rubber bullets and tear gas used by the IDF against Palestinian protestors. The IDF is criticized for its tactics during deployment, including common use against people, businesses, and neighborhoods not involved in protests as a form of collective punishment.
The TOMA is an armored water cannon designed for riot control by Turkish companies Otokar, BMC, Katmerciler, Moğol Makina and Nurol Makina.
The Wasserwerfer 9000 is a water cannon used by the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) and Bereitschaftspolizei in Germany, as well as the municipal police of Switzerland.
Civil unrest occurred in Mong Kok, Hong Kong from the night of 8 February 2016 until the following morning. The incident escalated from the government's crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers during the Chinese New Year holidays. Eventual violent clashes broke out between police and protesters, resulting in injuries on both sides.
The Special Tactical Contingent, nicknamed the "Raptors", commonly known as the Special Tactical Squad (STS), is a specialist riot contingent of the Hong Kong Police Force under the command of the Police Tactical Unit (PTU).
Crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir is a public security practice to prevent and manage violent riots. It is enforced by police forces through laws preventing unlawful assembly, as well as using riot control agents such as tear gas, chili grenades, and pellet guns.
The month of August 2019 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw a continuation of protests throughout the city. Several of the peaceful daytime protests were held by social groups such as families, the elderly, and various professions. In many instances, peaceful protests occurs during the day, turning increasingly violent at night. In North Point and Tsuen Wan, white- or blue-shirted armed groups were attacking protesters, but unlike in the Yuen Long violence of 21 July they were beaten back in North Point. Protesters aimed at drawing international attention through methods such as extended sit-ins at the airport. In many occasions, an eye injury of a female protester who had served as frontline medical staff became a symbol of the protests. At the airport protests, a mainland journalist was violently tackled by protesters who did not reveal his identity to the protesters. Protesters later apologised for this incident, reducing tensions and satisfying some pro-establishment lawmakers. The Prince Edward station attack on 31 August proved to be a further landmark event in the protests.
The conduct of the Hong Kong Police Force is a subject of controversy during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. Tactics employed by the force have led to misconduct allegations and protesters have accused the Hong Kong government of using the police as a method to resolve a "lingering political crisis." Actions taken by the police force and the Hong Kong government have caused mixed reactions inside Hong Kong and in the general international community. Allegations against the police include excessive use of force, force against unspecific targets, and arrest without warrant. These allegations have been presented in various media both supporting and detracting from the complaints, such as through amateur video. In general, the spirit, rumors, videos, and other media shared by the public have caused a drop in support for the police force, and an Amnesty International report accused the police of using excessive force against civilians. One of the objectives of the 2019–2020 protests is establishment of an independent inquiry system into said allegations.
The month of September in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw again citywide unrest. Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on 4 September that the extradition bill, in suspension since July, would be fully withdrawn, which fulfilled one of the five demands of the protesters. Also, following an earlier promise, Lam held a discussion session with randomly selected members of the public on 26 September. These acts, however, had little to no effect on the protests, as protesters insisted that all of the five demands be met. That this latter goal would be hard, if not impossible, to achieve – due to the very limited room given to Lam's administration by mainland Chinese authorities, as transpired from comments by officials – did not discourage the protesters from continuing to take to the streets.
In October 2019, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw a further escalation of violence. It became evident that the protests were unlikely to end soon, and that they posed the biggest popular challenge to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping since his ascension to CCP general secretary in 2012. To bring the situation under control, Chief Executive Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era powers to impose an anti-mask law, aimed at preventing protesters from hiding their identity. Observers considered the law, which came into force on 4 October, as a precedent for possible wider use of emergency powers at the expense of citizens' freedoms and in addition democratic rights, as they even saw the possibility of the upcoming District Council elections being cancelled based on the emergency law. The mask ban did, however, not achieve the desired effect, but rather proved a further focal point of protests. In November, the High Court ruled the mask ban to be unconstitutional, although in April 2020, an Appeal Court ruled that it was constitutional in the case of unlawful assemblies.
The month of November 2019 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests started with protesting in malls and police getting into homes and malls to arrest protesters. The death of Chow Tsz-lok in Sheung Tak, Tseung Kwan O had led to more protests. In mid November, there were city-wide strikes which lasted for more than a week. Hong Kong Police officers fired tear gas in Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), and nearby areas. In late November, the District Council elections were held. The pro-democracy camp in conjunction with the localist groups got more than 80 per cent of the seats and gained control of 17 out of 18 District Councils.
The 12 June 2019 Hong Kong protest, also known as "612 incident". refers to an incident of intense confrontation between anti-extradition bill protesters and the Hong Kong Police Force, occurring on 12 June 2019 outside the Government Headquarters in Admiralty, Hong Kong Island. The protest was sparked by the government's introduction of the controversial Fugitive Offenders amendment bill, which was set to go through second reading on 12 June despite mass opposition.
The siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University occurred during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests on the campus of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).
After the rapid deterioration of the overall situation in the city in the course of the previous months of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, a degree of calming of the protests occurred in December 2019. This was due to several factors. One was an initial expectation of the protesters and their supporters that the government would finally offer concessions on the Five Demands – apart from the withdrawn extradition bill – after the resounding defeat of the pro-establishment camp in the District Council Elections on 24 November, which had dealt a blow to government rhetoric about its public support. The mass protests on 8 December were largely an expression of dissatisfaction that these concessions had not been forthcoming. Another factor seen as responsible for the decrease in the size of the protests was that the arrests during the Siege of Polytechnic University had thinned the ranks of the protesters.
The Wasserwerfer 10000 is a water cannon used for riot control developed by Rosenbauer on the Mercedes-Benz Actros chassis for the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) and Bereitschaftspolizei in Germany. Named for its 10,000 litres (2,600 US gal) water capacity, it is the successor to the Wasserwerfer 9000.
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