Violent crime in Taipei has dropped 50 percent this year, Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said at a ceremony yesterday to celebrate the appointments of eight police precinct chiefs.
But critics say that the mayor's numbers simply don't add up.
There has "been a massive improvement in law and order in Taipei this year," Ma said.
According to government statistics, the mayor said, there were 499 violent crimes through July this year, down from 810 during the same period last year.
Furthermore, Ma said, "More than 60 percent of people in Taipei are satisfied with social order, according to a recent poll in June."
But DPP City Councilor Lo Tsung-sheng (
"Three serious shootings occurred in August alone. If the poll was conducted now, I am sure that the public perception of the police would be worse," he said.
Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元), New Party councilor, agreed. "Even if we don't count those people who don't have an opinion, more than 20 percent of the people are dissatisfied with the current situation," Lee said.
"Ma should listen to the real voice of the public and not just look at the statistics," Lee said.
Lo said that Ma's use of the crime numbers discounts the seriousness of theft and said that theft was a fundamental concern for Taipei residents.
"Violent crimes only account for a small proportion of the total number of crimes committed," Lo said.
"What annoys people most is that theft is still rampant," Lo added.
The total number of crimes reported last year was 48,819, of which roughly 31,000 were thefts.
Through July of this year, there have been 18,429 reports of theft, slightly higher than the 17,670 reports during the same period last year.
"[Instances of] police shelving cases are not uncommon and some victims don't report their cases because they feel the police are incapable of solving crimes of theft," Lee said. "The actual number of cases is probably much higher."
Yesterday's ceremony was held to mark the first personnel shift under the new director of the Taipei City police, Wang Cho-chun (
The former director, Wang Chin-wang (
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