The so-called “mobile police stations” espoused by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) have come under fire from city councilors, who questioned their necessity while objecting to Ko’s hope to abolish traditional police stations.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lee Yan-hsiu (李彥秀) yesterday raised questions about the mobile stations’ — five police vans — poor reception, as Taipei Police Department Commissioner Chiu Feng-kuang (邱豐光) said they had handled only 23 cases since they were put into use on July 1.
Lee asked Chiu what the difference was between the mobile police stations and ordinary police vans, to which Chiu replied: “The mobile police stations are equipped with laptop computers and printers.”
She asked Chiu how the mobile stations were to perform their work if numerous illegal activities were to take place at the same time.
Chiu said the mobile police stations are an “extension” of their traditional counterparts, and if such a situation arises, officers would ask for backup.
Referring to a comment Ko made last month that he would replace all police stations in Taipei with the mobile stations to cut expenditure, Lee asked how backup was to be sent if traditional police stations were abolished.
As the locations at which the mobile stations are deployed are updated daily via the Internet, Lee asked how senior Taipei citizens who do not use the Internet are to file a report.
In addition, the mobile stations’ duties overlap with those of traditional police stations, Lee said, citing as an example the deployment of a mobile police station outside Ningxia Night Market, which has the Shuanglian Police Station nearby.
Chiu said the Taipei Police Department was still conducting a trial run of the mobile stations, which is to conclude at the end of the year, with the department compiling statistics to evaluate their efficacy.
The department has no plans to abolish traditional police stations, but would seek to merge some of them, he said, adding that further discussions would be held should the need to abolish police stations arise.
“The mayor’s visions for reform does not become reality just by a single order,” Chiu said.
Asked whether he had ever suggested to Ko that the project be terminated, Chiu said he was dissatisfied with the results produced by the mobile police stations so far, and that his agency would carefully review the efficacy of the facilities during the trial run.
The mobile police stations are used by five police stations under the Datong (大同), Zhongshan (中山), Songshan (松山) and Xinyi (信義) police precincts.
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