Joint Statement｜Regarding the Incident of Police Violence Against a Citizen by Officers of the Chungli Precinct

On May 20, 2023, officers from the Chungli Precinct's Chungli Police Station of the Taoyuan City Police Department responded to a report that a citizen, surnamed Chu, was arguing with a convenience store clerk, and proceeded to intervene. During the process, because Chu threw punches at the officers several times, causing a minor concussion, he was arrested for obstructing an officer in the performance of duties. However, after Chu had been subdued and arrested by the officers, he was clearly no longer a threat to the police executing their duties, having been sprayed with pepper spray. Nevertheless, the officer who had been struck used a baton to continue attacking Chu, causing him to bleed profusely from the head and wail in agony. Another officer, disregarding the severity of Chu's injuries, even lifted Chu's head to take a photograph, completely ignoring that such actions could cause permanent sequelae to the citizen and even endanger his life and safety.

Afterward, although the Chungli Precinct of the Taoyuan City Police Department claimed it had disciplined the violent officer with demerits, internal group messages of the Chungli Precinct recently circulated online. The text stated: "The press release initially issued to the outside world regarding the case handled by colleagues of the Chungli Station a few days ago was to silence public criticism and media scrutiny, serving to stem the damage and protect colleagues and the agency; the administrative disciplinary action signed is 'null and void from the beginning.' The entire case will depend on the results of future criminal investigations, and relevant responsibilities will then be deliberated. (The intention is to avoid the disadvantage of the case escalating indefinitely, similar to the Teacher Chan incident.) The precinct's stance of respecting and firmly supporting our duty-executing colleagues remains unchanged." It even claimed that the demerits were merely to cope with the media and public perception, and that the inspectorate would visit the precinct to express condolences. If the aforementioned text is true, it is evident that the Chungli Precinct has shown no sincerity whatsoever in reviewing and improving. This act of deceiving the public is truly unacceptable. Furthermore, if the aforementioned news is false, the Chungli Precinct should issue a disciplinary document to refute it rather than allowing false news to spread everywhere.

Moreover, this incident is not the first time the Chungli Precinct has failed to execute its duties in accordance with the law. Previously, in 2021, a female music teacher in Chungli was stopped and questioned by an officer surnamed Yeh from the Chungli Precinct. Because she refused to answer and called him "so stupid," she was subjected to a judo "major outer reap" (osoto gari), pinned to the street, and subsequently arrested on suspicion of obstructing an officer. This case was prosecuted due to police abuse of power and excessive enforcement. The Taoyuan District Court sentenced Officer Yeh to a total of 10 months of imprisonment for two offenses; Officer Yeh waived his right to appeal and was suspended from duty. However, the Chungli Precinct failed to review its internal duty execution and educational problems as a result of the aforementioned incident, and now this incident has occurred again. In this regard, the Chungli Precinct truly must conduct a profound review, swiftly implement internal rule-of-law education and training, and review regulations on the use of physical force by jurisdiction officers to eradicate similar incidents in the future.

In addition, the National Police Agency and the Taoyuan City Police Department should also thoroughly investigate this incident and publish the subsequent investigation results and handling methods, so that the general public can witness the determination of the National Police Agency and the Taoyuan City Police Department to improve police compliance with laws and regulations.

Press Contact

Ch'en Kuan-chen, Legal Specialist, 02-252311785 ext. 21