Police officers impeached for covering up assault on Taipei station

The Control Yuan has impeached four police officers for their role in deleting surveillance footage last year of nine men storming Taipei’s Zhonglun Police Station before leaving without being arrested.

In a release Monday, the Control Yuan said its members voted unanimously on Dec. 6 to impeach Lin Chih-cheng (???), former commissioner of Songshan Precinct, Hsu Shu-huan (???), the ex-chief of Zhonglun Police Station, Hsu’s then deputy Yen Min-sen (???) and police Sergeant Fu Jung-kuang (???).

In the early hours of April 16, 2021, a civilian, surnamed Hsu (?), and nine others chased officer Yang Chung-li (???) into Zhonglun Station, damaging a computer during a confrontation with the station’s officers before leaving without being arrested.

Yang, a police training instructor with the Songshan Precinct, had reportedly got into a dispute with Hsu at a nearby restaurant.

Upon learning of the incident later that day, officer Hsu Shu-huan was asked by Sergeant Fu if the surveillance footage of the incident should be reformatted to delete its contents, according to prosecutors investigating the case, with Hsu agreeing to do so that Yang could save face.

Despite the officer’s attempts to bury the incident, an anonymous Facebook user posted on April 21 about the break-in and subsequent cover-up, questioning why those involved had been dealt with so leniently.

Songshan Precinct held a press conference on the following day, but no video recording was provided of what actually happened inside the police station at the time.

The explanation given by Lin was that the Zhonglun station had forgotten to reboot its surveillance cameras after a brief power outage the night before.

However, the footage was subsequently recovered by the Taipei Police Department’s information technology division, with the video confirming that Hsu and nine men had broken into the Zhonglun station and damaged a computer before leaving.

Hsu Shu-huan has since been reprimanded for his actions and removed from his post, while Yang has been transferred to another station as punishment.

On Monday, the Control Yuan said Yen had been in charge of the police station that night, but knowingly hid the incident from the precinct and ordered his subordinates to “treat the matter lightly.”

The watchdog body added that Hsu Shu-huan, Fu, and Lin, had also played a part in attempting to hide the incident.

Following the Control Yuan’s decision, the Disciplinary Court under the Judicial Yuan will decide what measures it can take against the officers, all of whom bar Lin are still with the force.

Meanwhile, the Control Yuan censured the Songshan Precinct for its leniency over the matter, with the officers involved to be further investigated for “indulging the criminals” and “filing false report” based on new evidence collected from the incident.

Lin had lied about the computer saying it got knocked down to the ground by accident, the Control Yuan said, adding that he initially also used the pretense that there was no footage due to the power outage.

Three other police officers who were on duty that night at the station and witnessed the crime also did nothing except to allow Hsu and the nine other men to leave, it said.

The Control Yuan added that the officers had also filed a false report claiming the station’s computer had been damaged by a member of the public accidentally knocking it over.

After learning about the censure, the precinct said it respected the Control Yuan’s decision but said the case has yet to be reviewed by the Disciplinary Court and that it will continue to enforce discipline among its officers.

In May 2021, prosecutors handling the case charged Hsu with the destruction of public property under the Criminal Code.

The prosecutors did not formally charge Hsu Shu-huan and Fu despite the fact that their conduct of destroying key evidence related to a crime was “unbecoming of law enforcement officers.”

Because the two have no criminal records and had confessed, the prosecutors said both men will instead be asked to pay a fine of NT$150,000 (US$4,888) and undergo four hours of legal education. Both have also been transferred out of Zhonglun station.

Yen and Fu were subsequently transferred out of the Zhonglun Police Station.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel