Not long ago, there were two random attacks on members of the public on the same day. I cannot help but wonder why such attacks have been happening so often lately and how they can be prevented.
Looking at the people who carried out the recent attacks, it seems that a lack of love and caring had deepened their sense of isolation and discontent with society.
Due to the development of the Internet, the number of people with dissociative personality disorders has increased and made a copycat effect more likely.
In addition, as a result of urbanization, people might be careless about others’ feelings as they come into contact with so many strangers. In such situations, a person attacking random people in the street might experience no mental resistance to doing so.
Structural economic changes have also made social mobility more difficult, with the result that an increasing number of people now feel that things are hopeless. Given this situation, random attacks might continue to occur.
In 2013, the Japanese ministry of justice released a study that showed that if Japanese society wants to prevent random attacks, the primary task would be to prevent people from being isolated.
To make this happen, the ministry proposed the following five suggestions.
First, people with a criminal record should be given appropriate treatment.
Second, employment and the labor market should be stabilized to allow all people the opportunity to give full play to their wishes and abilities.
Third, society should create an inviting environment that allows people to engage in a variety of social activities so that everyone can have a safe place to live and is given an opportunity to shine.
Fourth, mentally ill people should be given appropriate treatment and prejudice should be eliminated so that they are given a chance to heal and recover their mental health.
Fifth, people considered at high risk of committing suicide should be given preventive counseling.
While Japan’s suggestions could serve as a reference for Taiwan, these preventive measures involve systemic reform and it would not be easy to reduce the number of random attacks this way.
The criminological routine activity theory posits that there are three necessary conditions for the occurrence of most crimes: a likely offender, a suitable target and the absence of a capable guardian.
This means that strengthening the defense of possible targets and monitoring and managing public places would be helpful.
In terms of the focus of prevention, apart from strengthening the general public’s sense of crisis, the National Police Agency has proposed several measures following the recent random attacks: to further increase police visibility, enhance joint prevention mechanisms, promote rapid report and response measures, improve on-scene response, hold emergency response drills and cooperate with the concerned units to promote joint prevention work.
The most important measure that could be implemented immediately is the improvement of cooperation between management staff and security personnel at venues where attacks might occur so that suspected illegal activities could be reported and personnel could act swiftly to prevent a violent crime.
This is something to which the concerned authorities should give serious consideration.
Hsu Fu-seng is a professor in the Department of Police Administration at Central Police University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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