A new rule, introduced last month, whereby police officers must obtain approval from their supervisors whenever they need to come into contact with underworld figures, has left law enforcement agencies divided.
The new rule, which states: “Any contact with gang members is technically prohibited at all times, but will be considered and approved for investigative purposes. [To this end] a paperwork application and a detailed report afterwards will be required.”
Drawing a line between police and gang members became a priority for the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police Agency (NPA) following the murder on May 28 of Taichung gangster Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠), which occurred in the presence of four senior officers.
Investigators subsequently came to the conclusion that Weng had close connections to many Taichung City Police Department officers.
The new rule stipulates that paperwork submitted by an officer must be approved by more than three colleagues, including the precinct chief.
The post-contact report must be submitted no more than one day after the event.
For “emergency cases,” an officer can file his request to his superior verbally, but the paperwork must still be submitted within 12 hours.
Furthermore, meetings or contact between a police officer and a gang member must not be carried out at any “illegal” or “inappropriate” location, such as illegal casinos or hostess bars.
A police officer cannot accept bribes, leak any classified information to a gang member, become involved in drug dealing or gamble during contact.
The NPA said that before similar regulations came into force in Japan and Singapore, the opinions of police officers and social workers were taken into account.
Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), whose agency oversees the nation’s approximately 80,000 police officers, said the rule was designed to prevent unduly close relationships between the police and gangsters. The opinions of several senior officers were also instrumental in drafting the new regulations.
“‘Relationships’ are permissible after an application has been filed, but ‘friendships’ are prohibited,” Jiang said.
Central Police University president Hou You-yi (侯友宜), a former director-general of the NPA, said that the new rule was “necessary, given the difficult times police are experiencing at the moment.”
“When you discipline yourself strictly, everybody will respect you, including the gangsters you are dealing with,” Hou said.
While it may be necessary to establish certain “relationships” with gangsters, Hou said, there are many alternatives.
“Gangsters will still respect and trust a cop if the latter follows the rules because it tells them that the officer is a man of his word,” Hou said.
Cheng Jui-lung (鄭瑞隆), the chairman of the Graduate Institute of Criminology at National Chung Cheng University, said that while new rules would be supported, enforced and carried out, it was natural that they would engender some complaints.
“Many years ago, a new rule stipulating that helmets were always required when riding a motorcycle and scooter was criticized and generated complaints, but there’s no question it was the right decision,” Cheng said.
A sergeant from Taipei County Police Department’s Younghe Precinct was more critical, saying on condition of anonymity that the new rule would be a major obstacle for law enforcement.
Having served in the force for almost 20 years, the officer said that what he had learned from senior officers and his own experience was that “certain” skills are required to arrest suspects and close a case.
The new rule, however, asks police to “kill the enemy without bullets,” he said.
“If you don’t talk to gangsters, you won’t understand what they think,” he said, adding that the new rule would also make criminal investigation one of the most difficult positions in the force.
Kao Wen-bin (高文彬), a member of the criminal investigation team at the Kaohsiung County Police Department’s Fengshan Precinct, said the rule would not affect him because “a good cop should always know what he is supposed to do, and what he should not do, at all times.”
“I always remind myself that I am a police officer no matter what I am doing. This is what I do to keep myself away from potential traps,” Kao said.
Taipei City Police Department Chungshan Precinct Dazhi Police Station detective Chen Feng-sheng (陳豐盛), one of the nation’s most famous undercover officers, said the regulation would undermine public order as it would limit police access to the underworld.
Chen was charged with drug possession while working undercover in a counter-narcotics operation in 1997, but the Taiwan High Court dropped the charge against him and he was allowed to return to his job in 2002.
“Having good informers is very important for police. If the NPA wants us to stay away from informers, it will also have to stop pushing us for performance,” Chen said.
“You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” he said.
“When you’re good, arrest many bad guys and close many cases, the public will speculate that you’re in a ‘relationship’ with the bad guys so you can always be one step ahead,” Chen said.
“However, when you perform poorly and arrest nobody, your superiors accuse you of being a lousy cop — or worse, suspect that you are corrupt,” he said.
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