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Politicians undermine the forces of law, order

On April 26, police officers were faced with an awful job when hundreds of pan-blue and pan-green supporters led by dozens of legislators congregated and clashed at CKS International Airport. Although 3,500 police officers were mobilized to maintain security, they failed to contain the violent mob.

In the airport's departures lobby, staves, sticks and umbrellas were used as weapons and the floor was strewn with broken eggs and the detritus of firecrackers. The scene not only terrified foreign tourists but also tarnished the nation's image and made a mockery of the exercise of public power.

I am sure that there were many people like me who hoped that this would be no more than a storm in a teacup and the embarrassing incident would not be covered by the international news media. Unfortunately this was not the case.

Local media, meanwhile, described the airport clashes as a disgrace to Taiwan's democratization, a mockery of public power and an example of police incompetence. But this description is superficial and if we don't actually seek out the root of the problem, then no matter how many Aviation Police Bureau commissioners we sack, it will not prevent a recurrence of such an event.

The incident was all too familiar. On April 6, when Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Shu Chin-Chiang (蘇進強) returned to Taipei from his visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine, he was also greeted with protests from various factions.

But although demonstrations or rallies are forbidden in the airport, it was the Aviation Police Bureau commissionerwho had to apologize to the illegal protesters. The police had to apologize for doing no more than their job because those leading the protests were legislators, and as such they have a say in deciding the bureau's budget. If the bureau's chief had not apologized, he would have faced the prospect of being brought before the legislature, rebuked, insulted and seeing the agency's budget slashed.

The practice of controlling budgets to control the behavior of the police is found not only in the central government; in fact it is even more common in local politics. Not only are the police denied the independence to act impartially, they are regularly used as props in various situations engineered by politicians to increase their public exposure.

The day after the killing of a police officer in Sijhih, Taipei County early last month, Taipei City forces mobilized to assist the county. This is what you would expect when a colleague has been killed. But that same day, the Taipei City Council required commanders of various Taipei police precincts to attend a question-and-answer session on sex services being offered in the city.

Councilors brought out a scantily-clad model and police commanders where required to touch the clothing worn by the model and were asked increasingly absurd questions about when they would take action. At a time when the police faced the serious task of catching a cop killer, they were being taken for a ride by city councilors, who simply wanted publicity.

In the operation of this country's unique democracy, public representatives and their friends flout the law with impunity. They show no respect for the police and so the police forces are constantly the subject of attacks. The dignity of the nation's judicial agencies suffers as a result. This kind of democracy and rule of law is like building a house with dangerous materials, such as sea sand and radiation contaminated steel. How can the public feel secure in such an environment?

We cannot but ask, in a country where such situations are commonplace, how are we going to fight crime?

Yeh Yu-lan is chairman of the Graduate School of Foreign Affairs Police at Central Police University.

TRANSLATED BY DANIEL CHENG AND LIN YA-TI
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