Members of the public can record or videotape policemen performing their duties in public places to safeguard their own interests, and such action will not be regarded as encroaching on the privacy of the police officers, if it is done in a reasonable way, the Ministry of Justice said.
The ministry issued the statement following recent heated discussions on whether people should be permitted to record or videotape policemen on duty, and whether such action should be considered obstruction of official police duty.
The controversy stemmed from an incident in September last year, when two college students were stopped by police in Greater Kaohsiung and given tickets for driving illegally modified scooters.
Throughout the incident, the students were filming the officers, and when they ignored the officers’ warning that they had to obtain the officers’ consent before filming, they were brought to a police station and served notices for obstructing the officers from performing their duty.
The incident caused a public outcry, which prompted Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) to issue a statement calling on the police to respect the rights of the public.
The ministry, in its latest statement, said that people reporting a crime to judicial authorities or who are being questioned cannot record or videotape the procedure, based on the principles of investigation confidentiality and presumption of innocence, and to protect the privacy of defendants.
However, cases of appeals, reporting or administrative investigations are divided into two classes: “open” and “closed-door” events.
In an “open” event, members of the public, based on the principle of safeguarding their personal interests, can make a recording or videotape, as long as they do not take a close-up shot of the police officer involved.
As for “closed-door” events, when someone wants to speak to the police in private, law enforcement authorities can, based on safety concerns, restrict or prohibit recording or videotaping.
The ministry said that whether such recording violates the law will be determined by law enforcement officials on a case-by-case basis.
Anyone threatening police officers on duty will face charges of obstructing the police.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS