04:10 2026/06/13
China Times, Lai Youwei, Taoyuan
Following the tragic death of three people, including two pedestrians, during a police pursuit of drug addict Zhang Hongkai, the Taoyuan City Police Department issued a letter last August reiterating the procedures for police officers following vehicles, stipulating that they should follow at a minimum intensity and at a considerable distance. Lower-ranking officers criticized this, arguing that expecting police to arrest the driver without pursuing the vehicle is an impossible task; scholars also believe that “arresting or not arresting is a lose-lose situation; the police are not at fault, the fault lies with drug-driving.”
Last year, the Taoyuan City Police Department reiterated in its letter that when pursuing a vehicle, officers should notify the command center, activate hazard lights and sirens, ensure that the dashcam is activated, and confirm that the dashcam is functioning properly. Most importantly, while recording the person being pursued, officers must wait for an appropriate opportunity to stop the vehicle and should follow at a minimum intensity and at a considerable distance.
Grassroots officers criticized the regulation as “Monday morning quarterbacking.” They argued that no one pays attention to this standard operating procedure (SOP) when nothing goes wrong, but when something does happen, they’re used as scapegoats. They claimed that if this regulation were strictly enforced, arresting people would become impossible. Grassroots officers also pointed out that drug-impaired driving is rampant, creating an environment where frontline officers are expected to deliver results that meet societal expectations, yet they are constrained by numerous restrictions. For example, police know drug users carry drugs, but they can’t arrest them without a warrant. They argued for so long about relaxing the regulation, but no one is willing to listen to the grassroots’ perspectives.
Regarding the question of whether police should pursue vehicles, Wang Po-Chi an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Ming Chuan University, stated that if police handle situations passively, what happens if drug-impaired driving results in injury or death? Police in such situations are caught in a dilemma: whether to pursue or not. He mentioned that Taoyuan police secretly organized a “Day of Passive Police Conduct” in 2023, where officers would appear in situations but not conduct checks, stops, or pursuits; they would only fulfill the minimum required duty. However, this is certainly not what the public expects from the police in maintaining public order.
Wang Po-Chi said that the prescribed following distance for police is actually very difficult to determine. If drug-impaired driving causes injury or death, what will the wind direction do? “The officer wasn’t wrong; the mistake was driving under the influence of drugs!”