In the wake of controversies surrounding the murder of an alleged gang leader in Taichung City last month, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said it was drafting a set of regulations on police discipline — especially when interacting with people in organized crime.
Alleged gang leader Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) was gunned down at the headquarters of his biotech firm in Taichung City. The murder drew national attention as it was later discovered that four police officers were in his office playing mahjong when it occurred. The officers did not help Weng, and failed to report the crime immediately.
A bigger shock came as further investigation found that other officers were frequent guests to Weng’s office.
The discoveries put the police under fire as the public questioned the appropriateness of police having such close ties with an alleged gang leader.
“With all that’s been happening, this is the right time for reform of police discipline,” Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said on Tuesday night. “There may be some gray areas in the interaction between the police and the mafia, and I’ve asked National Police Agency [NPA] Deputy Director-General I Yung-jen (伊永仁) to work with the Criminal Investigation Bureau to come up with a set of clear regulations based on the Ministry of Justice’s ethics regulations.”
He said he also asked the NPA to send the draft regulations to local police bureaus for revisions, and then submit the final draft to the ministry within two to three weeks.
The NPA has also been asked to research “revolving door” provisions — which exist for high-ranking officials but not for police officers — to ban high-ranking officers from investing or serving in sensitive industries for a certain period of time after retiring, Jiang said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said he could understand the need for such regulations, but was worried that explicit regulations would have a negative impact on the police’s image.
“Most people think the police and the mafia are sworn enemies, and have no contact at all, but officers sometimes do need to contact gangsters to collect information about criminals,” Huang said. “But if this gray area is written in black and white, such contacts would become something recognized by the government, which is probably not a positive move for the police.”
On the other hand, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), whose father was a police officer, supported the idea.
Wu said it’s unavoidable for police to come in contact with the mafia when they are investigating crimes or working undercover, “so certainly we need rules on it.”
“Although Jiang’s proposal would not root out the problem, I still think it’s a good start and would support it,” Wu said. “Draft regulations can spark public discussions on the issue, and eventually, there could be more complete legislation about it.”
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Hsiao Ching-tien (蕭景田) said he would propose an amendment to the Civil Servant Services Act (公務員服務法) that would place stricter regulations on retired civil servants.
Currently, the act stipulates that a retired government worker cannot serve as a board member, manager, adviser or shareholder for businesses he or she had dealings with government five years before retiring. The ban is valid for three years after the individual leaves the position.
Hsiao proposed that even after the three years’ ban expires, the individual should still be prohibited from contacting the government agency where he or she used to work five year before retiring from the government.
“The amendment would be stricter and hence help avoid improper relations and connections between government offices, private firms and former government employees,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG
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