More than 73 percent of people approved of law enforcement efforts to safeguard public security, a survey released on Monday by the Crime Research Center at National Chung Cheng University (CCU) showed.
A high 83.1 percent of respondents also gave their stamp of approval to “public safety conditions around their residence and local neighborhoods,” the survey showed.
However, 54.3 percent of respondents said they were not satisfied with government efforts “to strengthen the social safety net,” and only 32.8 percent indicated satisfaction when asked if “judges make fair and rightful rulings on criminal cases.”
Photo: Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times
Just a little over the majority, or 55.3 percent, said they were satisfied with the “government’s heavy crackdown on drugs,” while 53.3 percent said they were dissatisfied with “government efforts to crack down on financial fraud and extortion,” researchers at the center said.
The survey showed that 83.6 percent of respondents opposed the decriminalization of cannabis use, while 90.5 percent agreed that people convicted of killing police officers should be sentenced to death, they said.
Ratings on the key indicators of public security dropped compared with a previous survey, although most people still endorsed police efforts to uphold safety in local communities, CCU criminology professor Cheng Jui-lung (鄭瑞隆) said.
“The social safety net is the main underlying structure for maintaining public security, which includes medical, health and public hygiene measures, and mental health and psychological well-being. Given this underlying structure, it is impossible to maintain public security by relying solely on law enforcement by police,” Cheng said.
“Maintaining peace and public safety cannot depend only on police officers combating criminal elements. It also needs the justice system, measures to promote medical health and mental well-being, uphold security in local neighborhoods, and cooperation by a law-abiding public,” he added.
The survey shows that the public wants a more proactive approach and stronger efforts by the government to combat serious crimes, said Ma Yao-chung (馬躍中), head of CCU’s criminology department, adding that “cross-ministerial collaboration is needed to build a more comprehensive social safety net.”
“Government ministries and agencies should coordinate and combine their resources, as well as introduce legislation, to combat fraud,” Ma said.
The government should also step up efforts to search and seize illegal drugs, and its public campaign against their use, he added.
In combating fraud, identity theft has become a major problem, Ma said, suggesting that stealing a person’s identity and setting up fake bank accounts should be defined as a separate offense and that corresponding punishments be meted out.
If imposing a steep fine as an administrative penalty has no deterrent effect, criminal prosecution could be the next step, he said.
One option would be to introduce legislation that would fine offenders NT$1 million (US$33,096) to discourage fraud rings and reduce the numbers of victims of bank fraud, he added.
Cheng said that while the public response to the question on judges’ ability to make fair rulings appeared to be low at 32.8 percent, it was an improvement from the 18 percent it garnered from a poll conducted 10 years earlier.
The survey was conducted from Jan. 13 to 16, with 30,000 telephone calls made, and 1,806 people completing the questionnaire. It had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS