Officers' mental health called into question

The branding of a young girl's chest by an off-duty police officer, a case that surfaced earlier this month, has not only raised questions about the officer's mental condition but also concerns about the methods police administration officials use to detect and handle mental problems among its officers.

On March 16, a 29-year-old police officer Feng Te-ming (馮德明), of the Peace Preservation Corps (保安大隊) of the Taipei Municipal Police Department, took a young girl he had met on the Internet back to his residence.

There he allegedly used heated steel wires to brand the chest of the 17-year-old girl after he claimed that she was a prostitute and deserved "punishment."

Feng branded two Chinese characters "yeh mao" (夜貓) on her chest, which literally mean "night cat" and means "whore" in Hokkien slang. The reasons why Feng chose the two characters and why he committed the offense are still unclear.

In the wake of the case's discovery earlier this month, Feng was fired and 12 other officers and officials were given demerits.

Wu Ming-hsiang (吳明祥), deputy chief of Taipei's Peace Preservation Corps, said it had never occurred to Feng's superiors and colleagues that the hard-working and well-performing officer had had any psychological problems.

Which raises the question: Is there any institution in the police force serving the purposes of detecting and resolving mental difficulties of police officers?

There is. Since 1991 every police-station-level police unit is required to set up a task force responsible for offering counseling services to the unit's members.

The task forces nationwide have a common title "Teacher Kuan" (關老師), with an exception at the Taipei Municipal Police Department, where they are called "Teacher Hsieh" (謝老師).

Feng Te-ming also had a Teacher Hsieh. In the 675-member Peace Preservation Corps, every section that consists of 80 to 90 policemen has a Teacher Hsieh.

In a section, normally the Teacher Hsieh is the vice section chief or a subsection chief, Wu said. The Teacher Hsiehs must regularly attended mental counseling courses, but don't necessarily have any formal background in psychology.

The Taipei Times spoke with Feng's Teacher Hsieh. The senior subsection chief, who is nearing retirement, said he and Feng had little contact after the incident was uncovered, "much like before it happened."

"There was little talk between Feng and myself," he said.

When asked about Feng's mental state when he committed the offense, his Teacher Hsieh said he was unsure.

"I don't know what his condition is. After the incident I spoke with him twice on the phone, and told him not to get too depressed," he said.

Even the Counseling Subdivision, Education Division, of the National Police Administration recognizes that the Teacher Kuan or Teacher Hsieh system has significant limitations.

"Police officers feel uneasy talking about their troubles when these counselors are -- at the same time -- their superiors," one official at the division said.

But the current Teacher Kuan system is already a great improvement on its predecessor, officials added.

Before 1991, the counselors were police inspectors, who were also in charge of police disciplinary affairs.

Under that arrangement the system further deterred police officers from seeking assistance.

A big problem is that trust between police officers and Teacher Kuans is lacking, said Shen Sheng-ang (沈勝昂), an assistant professor in psychology at the Central Police University.