This is a report on crime in taiwan from 1997:
[quote]Taipei, Nov. 23, 1997 (CNA) Taiwan’s homicide rate is the second highest in the world after only the United States, a recent report indicates.
According to the report by local criminologists, Taiwan’s crime rate is relatively low in other types of crime, although its homicide rate is the world’s second highest, with 6.8 cases per 100,000 population.
Statistics compiled by the Criminal Investigation Bureau show that homicide cases increased from 1,441 in 1994 to 1,743 in 1996, while the latest tallies released by the Ministry of Justice indicate that a total of 579 people (not including those involved in manslaughter cases) were convicted of homicide in the first nine months of this year, up 14 percent from the same period of last year.
Yang Shih-lung, a professor at National Cheng Chung University, said he is planning to launch a study of 1,800 adult and 200 adolescent convicted murderers in a bid to learn more about the factors behind Taiwan’s high homicide rate.
According to Yang, more than half of homicides in the US were committed with guns, while in Taiwan some 52 percent of the total involved the use of knives, followed guns and metal objects at 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Yang warned that the use of firearms to commit homicide in Taiwan is increasing. He indicated that the evening (7:00 p.m. to midnight) and early morning (midnight to 3:00 a.m.) hours are the times when most homicides occur, and that city streets, residential areas and special businesses are the places where homicides happen most frequently.
Citing police criminal records for 1996, Yang said 96 percent of murderers were males and that the 30 to 40 age group is the most predominant category. In terms of profession and academic background, unemployed workers and high school graduates are most likely to commit homicides.
According to Yang, a variety of factors such as biological and psychological influences as well as social and cultural disparities contribute to the propensity to commit murder.
While urging the government to adopt comprehensive measures including increasing police investigative capabilities, improving public security and the protection of children and women, and cracking down on illegal trafficking of weapons, Yang also suggested relevant authorities follow the lead of the United States in setting up a center for the analysis of violent crime to help reduce the occurrence of serious crime.
(By Flor Wang)[/quote]