Saying a special mechanism is needed to maintain police discipline, the National Police Agency (NPA) has rolled out a new policy requiring police officers to gain written approval from a number of superiors before contacting members of the criminal underworld.
Currently, officers only have to verbally notify their immediate superior officer whenever they need to talk to such people.
“We need some black-and-white tools to protect ourselves when we are enforcing the laws,” said Huang Tsung-jen (黃宗仁), head of the NPA’s Administration Section. “The new regulation is a new management mechanism for better discipline.”
SOLICITING VIEWS
The NPA solicited views from more than 100 officers and invited them to meetings prior to the finalization of the new policy, Huang said.
“Asking officers for advice would be the most sufficient way because they are the people who are enforcing the laws and fighting crimes on the streets,” he said.
The new regulation was the result of a directive from the Ministry ofa the Interior, which instructed the NPA to draw up a set of regulations on police discipline — especially when interacting with people in organized crime.
RECENT CONTROVERSY
The directive came in the wake of controversies surrounding the recent murder of an alleged gang leader in Taichung City.
The shooting of Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) at the headquarters of his biotech firm on May 28 drew national attention as it was 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 revelations put the police under fire as the public questioned the appropriateness of police having such close ties with an alleged gang leader.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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