The National Police Agency (NPA) has launched a pilot project for online language interpretation, aiming to help foreign residents report crimes and deal with judicial procedures, the agency said yesterday.
The project would be conducted in six local jurisdictions from next month to February next year, said Yu Jen-pai (游任白), an officer in the agency’s International Affairs Division.
The project is a collaboration of the police departments in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as Nantou, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, Yu said.
Interpreters would provide assistance through an online system to foreigners, helping them report crimes, fill out judicial documents and when being questioned as part of an investigation, he said.
“The service will ensure that foreigners’ language rights are guaranteed,” Yu said. “It will also protect the rights of crime victims and of those being questioned as part of an investigation, as well as criminal suspects. It will improve communication and case handling by law enforcement officers when dealing with foreigners.”
The scarcity of interpreters at rural police precincts makes the project necessary, the agency said.
The project would also include classes for police officers, judicial interpreter testing and work on telecommunication links, it said.
It would also help officers deal remotely with people with unknown COVID-19 infection status during the pandemic, it added.
However, the agency still prefers in-person interpretation, if possible, Yu said.
NPA data showed that there are 1,384 police interpreters in Taiwan, including 1,096 for Southeast Asian languages such as Vietnamese, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia and local languages of the Philippines.
While most other interpreters speak English, French, Spanish or Italian, the pool also includes native speakers of Russian or other eastern European languages, Yu said.
The project would be evaluated next year, and the NPA hopes that it can expand the service and attract more interpreters to join, Yu said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
Passengers on Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) will be required to use headphones and make phone calls in gangways under new “quiet travel” rules starting Sept. 22. THSR Chairman Shih Che (史哲) told media that THSR will run a three-month promotional campaign to ensure widespread adoption of the new rules. Those repeatedly ignoring the guidance face the potential termination of their transport contract, which can result in them getting escorted off the train, according to THSR. Shih shared his hope to cultivate an environment conducive to rest and reading for the train’s passengers, stating that these changes aim to “promote self-discipline” among passengers
RSS