Cop Culture in Taiwan

Martin’s text really encapsulates the struggles that police officers face in Taiwan. Police in Taiwan have to balance maintaining the law and maintaining the socio-economics of their beats. Martin describes how police are liable for any criminal activity that happens within their beats. They are penalized for their failure to have detected and reported any criminal activity (p. 668). The way it is set up for 119 (Taiwan’s 911) calls leaves a paper trail that leads directly to the officer on duty. When a citizen calls 119, the system automatically routes the call to the county police station. Here it becomes a matter of formal record. Then it is relayed to the appropriate substation, who then radios the policeman on duty. This leaves a paper trail identifying that officer personally as legally accountable for the management of the situation (p. 691). I suppose this could be a good way to make sure that the police are doing their jobs and doing them correctly. But at the same time it feels like they are not trusted by their superiors and by the rest of the legal system.

However the officers do not always uphold the law, especially when it comes to the restaurant stalls and shops that are illegally set up on the sidewalks. Guo, one of the officers that Martin spent a lot of time with, tells Martin that he does not write a lot of tickets for these people. He also helps them out legally. When he takes pictures of their stalls, he makes sure to let them know when he is coming so that they set up later. This way, he takes a picture of an empty space to use as the “after” picture and once they set up their stall, he takes a picture of that to use as the “before” picture (p. 669). To his superiors, it looks like he told them to clean up the stalls when in reality he is helping to keep the socio-economic order of the area in place. These people need these stalls to make money for their families. For most, it is their only income.

I do not personally think it is fair for these policemen to be held legally responsible for any crime they fail to notice. It is not their fault that they did not detect that brothel or chop shop in their beat. They should not be penalized for it. Their job is to respond to crimes reported to them and to crimes they detect. I do not know how it works to become a police officer in Taiwan, but to me it feels like they do not have enough policemen on the streets, and that may be something that should change. One officer is responsible for 200-400 households on his own and is then held personally responsible for anything that happens in that beat. With more police officers, more crimes might be detected and the law could be upheld much easier. I am also unaware how it works to legally have a stall set up on the sidewalk, but perhaps it should be made easier to get the proper permits so these families can provide for themselves without having to do so illegally and risk getting ticketed.

Reference:

Martin, Jeffery. 2007. “A Reasonable Balance of Law and Sentiment: Social Order in Democratic Taiwan from the Policeman’s Point of View.” Law & Society Review 41 (3): 665-697.