Law enforcement in Taiwan
Military and police forces were also involved in the efforts of the colonial government to secure control over the mountainous regions of Taiwan from the Taiwanese aborigines around 1910, and a series of smaller attempted rebellions and civil disorders between 1912 and 1916 [2] With the gradual acceptance of Japanese rule sinking in among the general populace by the 1920s, most agitators turned to seeking political change and reform within the established system in the home rule movement, Secret police forces were tasked with keeping a close watch[1] on political groups and agitators.
The Hoko system eventually became the primary method by which the Japanese authorities went about all sorts of tasks from tax collecting, to opium smoking abatement, to keeping tabs on the population.
Consequently, they were not particularly liked by the general populace,[4] and were often viewed as a symbol of the more oppressive side of Japanese rule; though this gradually changed with the stabilization of the political situation.
Nonetheless, Japan was generally credited for formally establishing law and order in what had previously been a hotbed of rebellion and lawlessness during Qing dynasty rule.
The ROC's law enforcement system built upon the foundations laid down during the Qing dynasty with the establishment of the Peking Public Inspection Headquarters in 1902.
The Taiwan police system at that time only played as a supportive role, like performing frequent surveillance,[1] for example.
The typical secret-police example of the involvement from several security units is Peng Ming-min, the famous Taiwanese political prisoner since the 1960s.
Sequentially, Peng was courted-martial by a military tribunal organized by "Division of Judge Advocate General" of Taiwan Garrison Command.
In 1966, Peng's case was then discussed by National Security Council and transferred from Taiwan Garrison Command to Bureau of Investigation.
Until his escape in January, 1970, Peng was under the regular visits from local policemen and constant surveillance from agents of Bureau of Investigation.
Later, it was disbanded and broken into two different units, which have evolved to the current Coast Guard Administration under the Executive Yuan and Reserve Command of the Ministry of National Defense.
Naturally these military instructors are also commissioned officers in active duty either dispatched from or trained by the branch of Political Warfare.
Before 1995, one of their missions at school is to closely watch, report, or even suppress any possible anti-government or political activity launched by students on or off campus.
This bureau served as the primary intelligence unit in Taiwan and headed by Cheng Jie-Min (鄭介民), a heavy-weight three-star army general from Military-Statistics.
[11] The Taiwan Provincial Police Administration was again separated from the NPA in 1995 with the implementation of local autonomy statutes in the ROC Constitution.
On 22 July 2000, four workers carrying out riverbed construction work in the Pachang River of Chiayi County, were surrounded by the quickly rising torrent on Saturday afternoon.
The four stood in the center of the river for three hours, waiting for a helicopter that never came, and were finally washed away at around 7:08 pm in sight of family members, helpless would-be rescuers, and the lens of news cameras on the riverbank.
This Pachang-Creek incident (zh:八掌溪事件) caused a field day for the news media in Taiwan and triggered a reform of the airborne emergency management system.
[15] The ensuing manhunt was widely covered, the ringleader Chang Hsi-ming [zh]) was finally arrested following another gun battle with police on 13 July 2005.
[17] On 28 February 2006, Hou You-yi, the Criminal Investigation Bureau Commissioner, assumed command as the director-general of the National Police Agency.
Wang Cho-chiun [zh], Chief of Taipei City Police Department, was named as the new director-general effective June 2008.
However the NPA has direct control over several specialized units which may be deployed to assist local forces, as well as the national highway patrol.
After the end of Japanese colonization in October 1945, they were used continuously until the official establishment of Police Office of Kaohsiung City on 8 November 1945.
Since the direct travel between mainland China and Kinmen and Matsu was opened in 2002, the local police departments are put on heavier duty of border security and immigration checking.
ROCMP is responsible for enforcing military law, maintaining military discipline, providing manpower support for the civilian police force, performing combat duty in times of emergency, providing security for certain governmental facilities such as including the Presidential Office Building, and performing counter-terrorism and VIP protection operations.
At present, Military Police troops are still aggressively working with and commanded by the district public procurator systems to investigate criminal cases.
[citation needed] Regarding drugs, corruptions, espionage, and economic crimes, the Investigative Bureau of Ministry of Justice (MJIB) has developed stronger capability to cover cases in those categories for decades.
The in-land territory of Taiwan should be the responsibility of individual local police departments or national law enforcement units from the NPA or MJIB.
[citation needed] Cases like smuggling and human-trafficking may cause turf wars between competing law enforcement agencies.
[citation needed] The duty of the Prosecutor is to represent Government to investigate crime and to expose or reveal conspiracies or secrets, as well as to preserve the justice and fairness of a society.
