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
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS