Early this year, the National Police Agency (NPA) released last year’s crime statistics showing a decline in the number of cases by more than 60,000 compared with 2008, the lowest figure in 10 years. The data also showed that Taichung City is no longer the city with the highest crime rate.
This all seems to call for celebration, if it weren’t for the fact that the public has seen no improvement in law and order. There have been frequent shootings and other criminal activities in Taichung City recently and a woman was reportedly kidnapped near the popular commercial area around National Taichung First Senior High School and sexually abused. All these events seem to contradict the NPA’s data.
The 19th century French sociologist Emile Durkheim proposed the anomie theory. It suggests that whenever a society is in a state of anomy — social instability resulting from a breakdown of social norms and values — society will enter a state of disorder and crime rates will soar.
Using Taichung City as an example, following a recent accident when a cyclist was hit and killed by a car, police were not only unable to secure the area, but also failed to block a group of men dressed in black from twice driving a car over the right leg of the dead body and harassing police officers on duty.
Such passive and weak responses from the police only serve to further encourage criminals and would-be criminals, while the public loses both confidence in the authority of the police and respect for the law. All these contribute to a state of anomy.
The more crucial issue is gangs, the main reason why Taichung City has sunk into a state of disorder. It is often called “Sin City,” a nickname that isn’t acquired overnight. If the police do not intervene forcefully when gang-managed businesses appear, more gangs will follow.
Although prominent political figures continue to announce efforts to fight the underworld, they still openly attend weddings and funerals of gang leaders as guests of honor, calling each other brothers. Sometimes, gang leaders are even nominated by political parties to run for election, thus obtaining legal protection.
The feeling of safety and social order does not depend on falling crime rates or political slogans but, rather, on whether one can safely walk down the street without being attacked.
In 2007, Taichung City began installing closed circuit television cameras at many locations to help prevent crime. However, residents care more about timely police assistance, and that is not an issue solved by installing cameras in the streets.
In the 1970s, New York City police started to patrol the streets on foot, which proved to be surprisingly effective. Everyone could see the police officers, which helped to deter illegal activity. Patrolling on foot also allowed police officers to communicate directly with local residents.
The “electronic wall” created by Taichung City, the spending large sums of money on the installation of street cameras, does not give residents a feeling of safety, nor do they do anything to maintain social order. It is easy to guess how effective, or ineffective, these cameras are.
What the public wants is very simple: They simply want freedom from fear.
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) has on countless occasions promised to improve social order during his eight years in office. Regardless of whether he is trying to save his candidacy in the Greater Taichung mayoral election in November or if he is displaying real concern for Taichung residents, it had better not be another political slogan.
Wu Ching-chin is an assistant professor in the department of financial and economic law at Aletheia University.
TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU
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