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It's no holiday for weary police officers

The group of people likely to be the most affected by the Shih Ming-teh (施明德) protest campaign is that which is keeping everything under control.

Police have been working long hours and have had days off canceled because of the ongoing campaign.

"We have been required to cancel days off since the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) protesters launched their demonstrations. The heavy workload and the fact that we've been unable to get enough rest has made the police very tired," police officer Chang Chi-li (張其立) told the Taipei Times as he watched the sit-in outside Taipei Railway Station yesterday.

"I hope the protest will end as soon as possible, but even if it continues, many of my colleagues and I will be unable to take all of our holidays because the year is coming to an end," he said.

A smaller number of police officers were dispatched to the sit-in site yesterday because there were fewer protesters gathering there.

But a substantial number of police were still on call in their stations in case of an emergency, another police officer said.

He said reinforcements would be arriving to prepare for the return of anti-Chen protesters to Ketagalan Boulevard late last night.

Taipei City Police Department yesterday said it would deploy 800 police officers to monitor the boulevard as anti-Chen protesters moved there.

Since the anti-Chen campaign began on Sept. 9, Taipei police have deployed 1,200 special police to act as back-up. This is in addition to the almost 400 officers who are in the field.
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