The police is the most corrupt agency in the country, according to the results of a survey released on Thursday by Transparency International (TI).
The agency scored 3.9 points on a five-band scale, while the Legislative Yuan was ranked as the second-most corrupt institution, with a score of 3.8, the results show. The scale ranks a score of 1 as least corrupt and 5 as most corrupt.
The survey, part of a global poll on corruption, was conducted online between June and July this year, polling more than 97,000 respondents aged over 15 from 86 countries and territories around the world for TI, the -Berlin-based anti-graft group.
The perception of police corruption might be a result of the shooting in May of Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠), an alleged gang leader in Taichung City who was shot and killed in the presence of several police officers with whom he was drinking and gambling, said Chen Chun-ming (陳俊明), executive director of TI’s Taiwan chapter.
Political parties and the private sector both received the same scores of 3.5, followed by 3.3 points for the judiciary and 3.2 points for the media.
Compared with the results of a similar survey released in 2006, corruption in Taiwan has improved significantly, as the political parties and legislature both scored 4.5 points on that occasion, followed by the police, with 4.1, the judiciary with 3.9, the private sector with 3.7 and the media with 3.3. About 37 percent of Taiwanese respondents agreed the government has made advances against corruption.
Political parties worldwide are considered the most corrupt institutions with an average score of 4.2, the survey showed.
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