Authorities are considering requiring real-name registration when purchasing smoke grenades following their use in an attack on the Taipei metro on Friday last week, as well as introducing scanners at public transportation entrances, National Police Agency Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said today.
The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee today invited Chang, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and others to discuss plans to improve safety in light of the attack.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shih-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) for regulation.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Considering that smoke grenades are used in survival games and for distress calls, the agency would decide within a month whether to require that people register when purchasing them, Chang said.
Regarding future drills, Liu said that evacuations for urban resistance exercises were previously conducted as tabletop exercises, but moving forward, they would incorporate unscripted exercises involving real-world scenarios.
The orange crisis safety handbook published this year did not include responding to violence and robbery, as the likelihood was considered low, Liu said.
However, it would be included in the next edition, she added.
In addition, station entrances on public transportation could be equipped with scanners equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect dangerous items, Chang said in response to a question from KMT Legislator Chang Chih-lun (張智倫).
Assessing whether AI could be used in this way would take about two months, as the 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 clarified, Lue said.
Experts have been instructed to review similar cases and include them in social safety assessments, Lue said, adding that the review would be completed within three months.
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