During the Lunar New Year period, when most people were on vacation, officers at a police station in northern Taiwan pooled NT$36,000 to buy lottery scratch cards and won NT$1 million [US$35,877].
At another police station in the south, two police officers performed a lion dance and jumped onto a bench normally used to restrain handcuffed prisoners. Then they went a step further by scattering banknotes, which one officer finally stuffed into his unzipped pants.
After an online video of these antics went viral, the precinct director was forced to apologize.
If you see disadvantaged people selling lottery tickets on the street, it is kind to help them out by buying a few; if you buy some lottery tickets on Lunar New Year you might get the year off to a good start by winning a prize, and there is nothing wrong with that.
If being on standby duty at a police station stops you from going home for a meal with your family, there is also nothing wrong with having some fun with your colleagues.
When I was working in Hsinchu County a few years ago during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the police support groups for several police stations wanted to reward the officers and volunteer police for their hard work by having barbecues at their stations.
However, there is not much space in an urban police station, so they had to use outside parking spaces for their barbecues. Passersby would have witnessed a scene of smoke, savory aromas and lively chatter.
Considering the tough economic conditions at the time, people would certainly be thinking about how they were rushing around trying to make a living while the police were busy enjoying themselves instead of patrolling the streets and preventing crime. So, to avoid giving the public a negative impression, I called a halt to this barbecue activity.
Five decades ago, then-Central Police University president Mei Ko-wang (梅可望) said that when members of the public expect something from the police, they see them as sages; when they need the police, they drive them like cattle and horses; when they do not need the police, they discard them like worn-out shoes. Things have not changed.
There are some things that you can do, but there is no need to let everyone know about it by posting a video on the Internet. If you do, you risk giving the mistaken impression that the police are twiddling their thumbs and clowning around instead of doing their job.
I remember when I was fresh out of college, if I opened my mouth in the office and said: “It looks like there is nothing going on today,” I was sure to be scolded by older officers.
They had even bigger taboos against playing with handcuffs or moving the bench that is used for restraining handcuffed prisoners — let alone treading on it.
You might call it superstition, but it would be better to call it respect for one’s profession.
Teddy Su is a civil servant and author.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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