Fallout from a `shootout'
Dear Johnny,
I couldn't agree more with your article ("Stop! Or I'll shoot you hesitantly," Sept. 23, page 8). Watching news footage of the car chase is almost like watching the Keystone Cops.
Having served as a patrol officer and field training officer tasked with training rookie officers with a large police department in the US, we were very specific about car chases and use of force issues. The biggest taboo on all car chases is definitely shooting at the car. There are too many variables, especially on crowded streets. You might end up hurting innocent bystanders by sending bullets down their way. Or if you do hit the driver, he may lose control of the car and mow down half a dozen pedestrians and/or scooters (we do have quite a few of those roaming Taipei's streets).
If I have the facts correctly, the police attempted to stop this driver in a routine car stop, and the driver blatantly refused to do so. This a classic example of "contempt of cop."
For police officers in the US, this is a common occurrence. Let's face it, people don't like cops at all, unless some criminal is about to kick down your door. It is natural for the officers involved to lose their cool. But then again, police officers are supposed to be well-trained professionals; they can't afford to lose their cool. What happened was a perfect case of poor tactics and poor judgment.
A police officer trying to force the car to stop with his body is pure stupidity. Body versus car: Believe it or not, the car will always win. If the police officer has the time to draw his sidearm and order the driver to stop, he has plenty of time to step out of the way. Besides, the officers had plenty of chances to drag the driver out of the car without resorting to deadly force. The "force continuum," a guideline utilized in the US, stipulates that once the threat to police officers and citizens ceases to exist, force must stop. From the news footage, the driver and car never posed any threat to the officers or citizens. The only threat was from the police officers discharging their firearms on crowded streets.
Refusing to stop does not mean an automatic death sentence for the violator. Taiwanese police are fortunate that the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights suit-monger groups have not extended their tentacles into Taiwan.
Leo Shih
Taipei
Johnny replies: Thanks for writing, Leo. You should get a consultancy with the National Police Agency.
Dear Johnny,
The recent 51-shot slugfest episode was a good way to kick off your 24-hour Cops: Taipei reality show. But in case the series starts to fizzle due to lack of content, here's an alternative. I think there's an organization out there on the mean streets of Taiwan that lives a much more action-packed and dangerous life and gets much less recognition for it -- although lots more money. It's out there 24x7x365 risking life and limb for our benefit. I'm talking about the Apple Daily reporting corps.
Why not have a camera following the AD reporters around -- they always seem to be the first to arrive for the blood and guts, and if not, they'll fight tooth and nail to the front to get those disgusting photos. No-holds-barred journalism at its best. What do you think?
Walter S.
Johnny replies: Brilliant idea. We'll have the show added to the programming schedule of the Neihu Nasties Network -- the moment you cough up a budget.
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