Briefing Note on the FY 1998 Police Administration Budget
Last edited: 2026-07-24
-
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The National Police Agency should amend relevant regulations so that police performance scores for solving cases are credited only upon the first-instance court's guilty verdict, rather than merely upon transferring the case to the prosecutors office.
Explanation:
Currently, police performance scores for solving cases are calculated based on the criminal facts and statutory provisions listed upon transfer to the prosecutors office. This often results in the abusive practice of turning minor cases into major ones and major cases into serious felonies, which unduly burdens prosecutors and courts and severely harms the human rights of criminal suspects. To prevent such abusive transfers, the National Police Agency should comprehensively review the performance calculation regulations for all levels of police and investigation units. Scores should not be credited upon indictment, but only upon a first-instance conviction. -
The National Police Agency should comprehensively study how to incorporate crime prevention and counseling performance into police case-solving scores to prevent police officers from improperly fabricating cases.
Explanation:
The performance of crime prevention and counseling is currently given very low weight in case-solving score calculations (e.g., counseling gangsters is worth only 0.5 points, while transferring a gangster case is worth up to 20 points). Under the pressure of accumulating points, frontline police officers often "fabricate" cases and neglect crime prevention or counseling. The National Police Agency should comprehensively study how to incorporate crime prevention and counseling performance into case-solving scores to prevent crimes before they occur. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The principle that suspect identification must be limited to lineup/photo array identification rather than single-suspect or repeated identification should be incorporated into the operational guidelines for frontline criminal investigators.
Explanation:
Identification procedures should be limited to lineup or photo array identifications and should not involve single-suspect or repeated identifications. This is universally recognized by advanced nations and criminal procedure academia, yet it is completely absent from the operational guidelines of Taiwan's grassroots police personnel, leading to frequent single-suspect and repeated identifications. To prompt frontline investigators to correctly use identification as an investigative method and prevent wrongful incrimination through mistaken identification, the National Police Agency should incorporate identification principles into the operational guidelines of frontline police personnel. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice shall submit a schedule within six months for enhancing equipment for scientific investigations and training in-service personnel.
Explanation:
To prevent the notorious issue of coerced confessions through torture, investigative units must audio- and video-record the entire process from the time the person being questioned arrives until they depart. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 Police units shall audio- and video-record the entire process from the time a person being questioned arrives until they depart.
Explanation:
To prevent the notorious issue of coerced confessions through torture, police units must audio- and video-record the entire process from the time the person being questioned arrives until they depart. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The National Police Agency should issue an order requiring all police personnel nationwide, when arresting or detaining a criminal suspect, to first recite their rights, including the right to retain defense counsel, the fact that their testimony may be used as evidence in court, and the voluntariness of their confession.
Explanation:
To ensure that criminal suspects understand their rights when arrested or detained, the National Police Agency should order all police personnel nationwide to recite to suspects—pursuant to Article 245 of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the right to retain defense counsel, Article 156 regarding the voluntariness of confessions, and the rule that silence cannot be used to infer guilt—and to inform them that their statements will be used as evidence. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 Police personnel should carry issued hoods and, upon arresting or detaining a criminal suspect, offer them the option to wear a hood to prevent identity exposure.
Explanation:
To ensure the principle of non-publicity of investigations and the protection of criminal suspects' human rights, the National Police Agency should manufacture hoods for police officers performing arrest and detention duties to carry, allowing suspects to choose whether to wear a hood during arrest or detention to safeguard their human rights. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The National Police Agency should issue an order prohibiting all police personnel nationwide from publicly announcing that a "case has been solved" or releasing specific case details and specific suspect targets during the investigative stage.
Explanation:
To ensure the principle of non-publicity of criminal investigations and correct the current improper practice where police personnel readily disclose specific case details and point to suspected individuals, the National Police Agency should issue an order prohibiting all police personnel nationwide from holding press conferences or making public statements regarding specific case details or particular suspects during the investigative stage, thereby ensuring the non-publicity of investigations and protecting the human rights of criminal suspects. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The National Police Agency should issue an order prohibiting all police units nationwide from continuously questioning defendants, criminal suspects, or relevant persons for more than three hours, and should provide them with adequate rest.
Explanation:
To prevent fatigue questioning that harms the human rights of the person being questioned and further hinders the discovery of the truth, the National Police Agency should order all police and investigation units nationwide not to continuously question defendants, criminal suspects, or relevant persons for more than three hours, and to provide them with adequate rest. -
《Proposed Attached Resolution》 The National Police Agency should issue an order prohibiting all police units nationwide from restricting defense counsel from communicating with the defendant before and after questioning.
Explanation:
Defense counsel exercises the right to defense in accordance with the law and should not be improperly restricted by police units. The Ministry of Justice should order all police units nationwide not to restrict defense counsel from communicating with defendants either before or after questioning.
This article is an AI-generated translation of the original Chinese text. In the event of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.