Three approaches
A greater threat to public order than seniors' illegal gambling is posed by large numbers of mainland Chinese women who come to Taiwan under the pretext of marriage, but soon disappear to work illegally, or join the sex trade. This is one of the more sensitive problems precinct officers have to handle.
When patrolling their neighborhoods, police have customarily visited three types of households and businesses at regular intervals. The first type consists of households or businesses headed by known members of criminal gangs or convicted felons. To watch for any continuing criminal activities, police officers used to visit such households twice a month, though now this has been changed to once monthly. The second type, smaller hotels and guesthouses, and shops that specialize in repairs or parts sales for cars or motorbikes, are checked once every three months, to counter prostitution and vehicle theft, respectively. The third type consists of regular law-abiding citizens. The police check the number of people in each household once a year, though more frequent checks are made if a spouse is from mainland China.
"If criminal cases in a policeman's precinct decrease, that's the biggest reward," reflects Chi. Taipei County's police resources are limited, and this is the biggest problem that affects police morale. Compared to resource-rich Taipei City, Taipei County has just half as many officers at 4,000, even though they have to cover a geographical area eight times the size of Taipei City and with 1 million more people. Each police officer must serve 1,500 residents, a truly fearsome burden.
"Sometimes you have to rely on informants to provide inside information that lets you keep on top of what's going on in your precinct," says Chi. He himself has eight informants in the market and in streetside shops. They are mostly reformed gang members on probation, or residents eager to contribute to the public interest. When patrolling his beat, Chi frequently patronizes their shops, or volunteers his assistance. After establishing a relationship, he asks that they report to him anytime there are any suspicious figures frequenting the area or any unexpected incidents. Chi has depended on their helpful information to locate many drug users hiding out in abandoned houses or unemployed vagabonds with no place to go. He then reports them to rehabilitation centers or the Bureau of Social Welfare, so that these people living on the fringes of society can get the help they need, while also lowering the risk of crime in his precinct.
While on patrol, Chi Tse-min stops to chat with shop owners and build a relationship that he can draw on to keep tabs on goings-on in the precinct.