Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (
Yu made the vow at a press conference after he gave a speech on crime to the DPP's Central Standing Committee.
Yu explained that the number of criminal cases usually increases after the end of February, prompting him to launch the anti-criminal campaign during this period.
According to the ministry's National Police Administration (NPA), there were 132,636 criminal cases from March to May last year.
Yu said he had asked the NPA to submit to him the number of criminal cases every day.
"I will look into the statistics on criminal cases from the counties and cities every day, and provide assistance to those cities and counties facing serious criminal problems," Yu said.
To achieve Yu's goal, Wang Chin-wang (王進旺), secretary-general of the NPA, said his administration would rearrange the work of the nation's more than 70,000 officers, encourage the public to report criminal cases and try to increase the clean-up rate of cases.
Kao Cheng-sheng (高政昇), secretary-general of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, explained that local police stations are required to take care of 68 kinds of work, including traffic duties, which has diminished the amount of time officers have to investigate more serious criminal cases.
"To solve the problem, we plan to send some 7,000 alternative servicemen to take over those administrative duties, which would allow the police to focus more on criminal cases," Kao told reporters at the press conference.
Yu declined to speculate on what he would do after May 31 if he resigned, saying, "All I can think of now is how to achieve my goal in the coming three months."
At the DPP's Central Standing Committee, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen said it was the responsibility of local and central governments to tackle crime and it is only through the close cooperation of the ministries of justice and the interior that the task can be completed.
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) expressed his support for Yu's plan, promising to assume political responsibility if the ministry failed to make substantial improvements in fighting gangsters and drug-related crime.
According to a written report provided by Chen Ding-nan, the ministry will work to prosecute at least 50 gangster-related cases and 1,000 drug-related cases in the next three months.
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