Taipei City Police Department

The Datong precinct, Taipei City Police Department (TCPD) connected with the Taipei School for the Hearing Impaired by sharing the hearing impaired with the latest resources of crime prevention. At first, the Datong Precinct officers were a bit intimidated that they might not be able convey the idea properly since the officers did not possess various expertise that are indispensable for special education, e.g. visual thinking, sign language, and lip reading techniques. Fortunately, having teachers signing gives the students the reassurance they need to communicate with law enforcement.

TCPD officers aim to enhance students' awareness of sexual violence prevention and provide practical information by disseminating relevant information. Renowned Korean film 'Silenced' and domestic film 'Mute,' have alerted the world that incidents of sexual assault have occurred on campuses, not only on the hearing people’s ones but also on the hearing impaired ones. TCPD officers reassured students that although your world may be relatively quiet or even soundless, it does not mean you should remain silent or passively retrieve from the injustice treatments that happened to you; instead, you should respect bodily autonomy and sexual privacy. 

Moreover, TCPD officers reminds students that even though digital and online social platforms have become an indispensable part of our lives, they have also created loopholes that are abused by perpetrator to violate one’s sexual privacy. In order to be able to punish such evil deeds, new laws have been enacted in the Criminal Code, e.g. recording sexual images without consent and disseminating sexual images without consent. 

In addition to raising awareness of gender-related crimes, TCPD officers have also disseminated fraud prevention practices. Statistics showed a trend that younger demographic is more vulnerable to become fraudsters or scammers. Youngsters are induced by fraud syndicates and scammers, often believing in the misconception that minors will not be sentenced to prison and enticed by attractive rewards, and eventually work for them as the so-called “cash mules.” Cash mules assist fraud syndicates in obtaining criminal gains. However, in reality, according to the Juvenile Delinquency Act, individuals aged 12 and above but under 18 who commit offenses listed in the Criminal Code will be referred to juvenile courts and subject to protective custody, counseling, or rehabilitation based on the verdict. Moreover, legal guardians can also bear joint liability for damages under the Civil Code, among other provisions. So, youth involvement in crime is not without consequences!