800 tear gas rounds fired, 148 arrested in clashes

The police said 148 people were arrested following clashes with protesters yesterday, the largest daily toll since pro-democracy protests began off two months ago, RTHK reports. 
“During the operation, the police arrested 148 people consisting of 95 males and 53 females, aged between 13 and 63 years old,” superintendent John Tse said during a daily press conference. 
He also said police fired 800 tear gas rounds yesterday, almost as many as the 1,000 rounds they said they had fired throughout the whole of the past two months. Riot police also fired 140 rubber bullets and 20 sponge rounds. 
Tse said reasonable force was needed to restore law and order and he dismissed claims that police had taken out their anger on protesters by using excessive violence. 
“Our officers will not put their tempers on the rioters. In fact, we take care of their behavior and we have psychologists to talk with them when they’re not working to make sure they’re calm enough when executing their duties,” Tse said. 
He also lashed out at protesters who vandalized more than 100 traffic lights, saying they had severely undermined road safety.