Authorities are considering requiring real-name registration to purchase smoke grenades following their use in an attack on the Taipei MRT on Friday last week, as well as introducing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered scanners at public transportation entrances, National Police Agency Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said yesterday.
The legislature’s Internal Administration Committee invited Chang, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and others to discuss plans to improve safety following the deadly rampage that left four dead, including the suspect.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) asked whether smoke grenades and signal flares would be added to the Firearms, Ammunition and Knives Control Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
Photo: CNA
The agency would decide within a month whether to require that people register when purchasing smoke grenades, which are used in survival games and for distress calls in the wilderness, Chang said.
Regarding civilian preparation, Liu said that evacuation simulations that were previously conducted as tabletop exercises would now be run as unscripted drills involving real-world scenarios.
The orange crisis safety handbook published this year did not include scenarios involving violence and robbery, as the likelihood was considered low, but would be included in the next edition, she said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
In addition, station entrances on public transportation could be equipped with AI scanners to detect dangerous items, Chang said in response to a question from KMT Legislator Chang Chih-lun (張智倫).
Assessing the feasibility of such a system would take about two months, as its impact on passenger flow and foot traffic must be considered, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wu Sheng-yuan (伍勝園) said.
Asked how to prevent copycats, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lue Jen-der (呂建德) said that Friday’s case was unusual.
The perpetrator experienced social isolation and long-term frustration, and his motives are still being investigated, Lue said.
Experts have been instructed to review similar cases and include them in social safety assessments, he said, adding that the review would be completed within three months.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior said it plans to deploy 17,000 police officers, as well as civil defense personnel and volunteers, to bolster security at events across Taiwan in the coming holidays through the Lunar New Year.
Local police departments have been tasked with planning duty assignments and bolstering security measures, involving 17,295 personnel, it said in a report.
The deployments aim to boost police visibility and enhance deterrence at 137 events nationwide before the holiday, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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