Taichung still crime capital of Taiwan, but has improved

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) refused to comment yesterday on reports the city had the country's highest crime rate during the first nine months of the year.

Figures from the National Police Agency (NPA), Taichung showed an average 2,566 criminal cases for every 100,000 people during the nine-month period, the highest rate among the 25 cities and counties around the country.

But Hu said privately that Taichung had recorded less than 4,000 criminal cases per 100,000 people last year, the first time the city had fallen below that mark in a decade. The cases in the first nine months also showed a marked decrease from the same period last year, he said.

Taichung police chief Yeh Kun-fu (葉坤福) said the crime rate in Taichung last year was 3,049 cases per 100,000 people in the first nine months. The number of cases for the first nine months of this year marked a 15.85 percent drop year-on-year, far better than the 5.8 percent average decrease nationwide.