A few days ago, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) joined Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) on a campaign visit to the Ximending District (西門町) in the hopes of connecting with the younger generation and improving Lien’s election prospects. However, security personnel created an impenetrable wall around Ma and Lien, making it impossible for them to interact with voters.
In addition, the violent way in which they handled people with opinions differing from Ma and Lien was unconstitutional. Instead of improving their electoral prospects, they created a public relations disaster.
Security seems to have become a matter of driving away and avoiding crowds, which is creating massive displeasure with the security service among the public. Not only does this hurt respect for the security personnel, it also tramples the Constitution and the law, and as such, it does more harm than good.
Whether on or off duty, the president should always be protected and enjoy certain privileges out of concern for the national interest, and there is nothing wrong with that. The issue here is that security personnel must not resort to methods that violate the Constitution and the public’s rights.
News footage clearly shows that people who expressed their disagreement with Lien and Ma in Ximending met with physical violence from security personnel, who restricted the movement of the protesters to behind the counter of a beverage shop or by pushing them into a clothing shop.
As the protesters did not resort to violence or pose any threat, the security personnel’s actions went beyond what was required to protect the physical freedom and property of those they were protecting. This was an egregious violation of the constitutionally protected freedom of expression, and it could also constitute an offense against personal freedom or coercion, which is prohibited by the Criminal Code. If the victims were to file charges, it is very unlikely that a law enforcement officer would be able to escape liability.
Article 12 of the Special Service Act (特種勤務條例) and the act’s enforcement rules clearly stipulate that law enforcement must consider the public’s freedom of expression and that they must not go beyond what is required to protect the safety of those being protected. The reason that these regulations are repeatedly ignored by security personnel demonstrates a lack of organizational culture and education among the personnel.Acting as they see fit and driving people away everywhere they go defeats the purpose of security personnel, since they are in effect isolating those they are protecting, and this results in public criticism.
Professionally performed security requires striking a balance. Security personnel must consider the law, the safety of those they are protecting and the freedom to express dissenting opinion. If protesters do not take physical action, all that is required is to keep the person for whom they are providing security separated and under their protection. This is the specialty of security personnel, and it should also be their highest priority.
At the same time, managers should strengthen internal controls and improve the training and enforcement techniques of the security personnel on the front lines, not only because any reporter or member of the public could record a violation, but also for the sake of their own professional dignity.
Ximending is not Tiananmen Square and it is only by adhering to the Constitution and maintaining administrative neutrality that security personnel will be able to smoothly carry out their duties, and gain the respect of the general public.
Su Tzu-yun is a former researcher at the National Security Council.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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