Peace And Order

Owing to the transformation of the social structure, the crime rate has risen under the impact of fast and sometimes conflicting changes. Recent trends in the types of crime have been toward economic and intellectual crime and organized protection rackets. Statistics show that burglary and crime involving violence accounted for 35.37% of all criminal cases reported to the police in 1994, posing a serious threat to the peace and order of society. Crime has also spread from urban centers to rural areas, and juvenile delinquency has been on the rise.

To improve social order, the Provincial Government will continue to implement measures to prevent theft and violent crime, detect crimes of all types, track down gangsters and illegal firearms, stamp out professional gambling, catch wanted criminals and escapees, halt extortion, eliminate drugs and amphetamines, establish a consensus on police reporting and liaison, and take the initiative in combating crime. Modern technology such as microfilm and automated processing are used to speed up investigations and boost the efficiency of police work.

A total of 122,520 criminal cases were reported from Jan. to Dec. in 1994, and 101,967 cases were solved, a solution rate of 81.10%.

The government aims to strengthen moral and social education as well as to correct corrupt social customs in order to uproot the causes of crime. In the meantime, it has also placed emphasis on the following measures:

1. Taking the Initiative to Fight Crime

Good patrolling and understanding of the causes of crime are two points of emphasis in Taiwan's crime-fighting policy. The police force has been well organized in a flexible structure and equipped with high mobility to actively prevent and reduce crime. Current aims are to track down and stamp out infractions by special purpose businesses, eliminate factors that affect social order, wipe out trade in human beings, and improve social mores; tighten security check at airports, sea ports and fishing ports by improving the security check equipment and intensifying such work; look for wanted criminals; increase the gathering of information on economic crimes; keep track of financial flows; and prevent smuggling, tax evasion and bootlegging to stabilize the economic order.

2. Improvement of Traffic

The police have also been engaged in improving traffic safety throughout Taiwan, district by district. The government is determined to strictly enforce traffic laws, augment towing equipment, improve traffic police training, strengthen security measures, maintain order at assemblies and marches, preserve order at elections, increase intensity of traffic patrols, strictly enforce parking regulations, plan street parking measures, and promote public participation in maintaining traffic order.

3. Disaster Prevention and Rescue Work

To prevent disasters, the police have expanded prevention propaganda, enforced security inspection, strengthened rescue team organization, improved rescue training for police and volunteer firemen, replaced obsolete equipment, and established command centers.

4. Promotion of Services and Police Citizen Cooperation

The police have widely set up service centers and strengthened the "119 Emergency Service" and the Police Broadcasting Station to provide prompt and courteous service. It has also taken measures to ensure the safety of citizens and aliens alike, to organize volunteer police to further enhance community safety, and to expand the use of civilians in neighborhood patrolling and strengthen cooperation between the police and citizens for crime prevention.

5. Law Enforcement and Public Peace

In order to maintain public order and ensure peace, the Provincial Government is actively instituting major social order improvement measures to reinforce control and prosecution of eight types of businesses such as dance halls, etc. It is also cracking down on suggestive advertising posters, gambling, sexually explicit video games and excessive noise nuisances of all kinds.