The much-maligned “mobile police stations” project proposed by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to replace traditional police stations that were scheduled to be merged was prematurely terminated earlier this week, but the mergers, which have caused concern among residents, are still to go ahead.
Ko said the mobile police stations, five police vans previously used by four precincts, had been turned over to the Taipei Police Department’s mobile division, which would allow them be be deployed in a more centralized manner, adding that the vehicles would now be known as “motorized police stations.”
Ko, who had put the police vans to a trial run until the end of this year, said the policy had been flawed.
“Be brave to innovate, but also be brave to make amendments,” he said.
The police vans could be deployed to protests to maintain order, he added.
The mobile stations had drawn harsh criticism from Taipei city councilors, who said they were little used and ineffective, adding that officers driving the vans only helped to give people directions and that many people flagged the vans down only to take photographs with them.
Taipei Police Department division chief Tsai Chin-lung (蔡親龍) said the only difference between the vans and ordinary patrol cars is that they can respond to “minor cases” reported by residents, which he said is due to the vehicles’ “being slightly larger than ordinary police cars.”
He said they would be used in exactly the same as when they were the “mobile police stations,” except that they are to patrol the entire city and are no longer assigned to certain precincts.
The city government is to press on with plans to merge police stations.
The Daciao and Shuanglian police stations in Datong District (大同) were merged with the Minzu and Jiancheng police stations in July, and the Jinmei and Muzha police stations in Wenshan District (文山) are set to merge on Jan. 1.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) said many residents in Wenshan are worried that the mergers would cause a rise in crime rates.
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