As I have mentioned before, almost every cop in every country has the right to decide how to handle traffic violations…cops in the U.S. have let me go for speeding, reckless driving, drinking and driving, making illegal manuvers in traffic, expired tags, etc. and yes others have charged me with speeding, or illegal manuvers and one reduced reckless driving to a lesser charge so I wouldn’t lose my liscense. So what’s your point? I have laughed with others at the fat piggy cops wabbling about just as I have respectfully answered questions by those who looked like they could bench press 300 pounds (and I must say I didn’t joke within earshot of those fat ones because they had guns too). I say it’s the same in every country, to some degree. And that degree is determined not by what you would like or what I would like but by how far the society has developed as well as how much they are willing to pay for their police services. If you want better services then move to the U.S. (or another country) where you can pay 30 percent, or more, of your salary in taxes so policemen can earn a decent wage and bodies are created to fight police incompetence (although if you follow the links you will see it doesn’t always work).
you jaywalked - the cops get demerits for NOT catching a minimum quota of jaywalkers - all he wanted to do was see your ID, and u could have alked away - but you failed the attitude test - and gave him the perfect excuse to bust you.
If I was a poorly paid taipei cop & I met some arrogant foreigner with an attitude problem, I would have booked you too.
I never carry mine in public, unless I need it for some transaction. I always carry a laminated photocopy. I use my driver’s license for ID purposes.
A few cops have stated the rule that I’m supposed to carry the original, but none has pressed the issue after I tell them I would be happy to bring in the original later on.
I can’t understand why nobody understands that the cop did ignore him and walked away. If I had to wait for 10 minutes while a cop assured my friend that nothing is wrong, I would also freak out. I mean it’s DAMN hard to get an ARC…years of studying! I’m not just going to stand there picking my nose …I would demand to know what was going on too! The cop could just have told the friend what was going on.
Many cops here SUCK. That doesn’t mean that they don’t suck in all other countries…I’m just really against double standards. I can always see myself in the cops scooter mirrors, which means that the mirrors are drooping. They always cut around corners, or stop without checking mirrors. Or they don’t signal.
AND why on earth should you say ‘Im sorry’ if you aren’t sure whats going on? What if they accuse you of doing a hideous thing, and you said sorry? That makes you guilty.
A little off topic, but yes, foreigners DO come here and get a fat paycheck. But so do Taiwanese people that go abroad to work. So do most people that go abroad, why else would they go? We do pay a lot for this money…we work hard…have very little help (many of us) in our job. And we don’t see our family, see our siblings growing up, say good-bye to pets when they die back home. We do miss out on a lot of stuff…we deserve the money IN MY OPINION.
sorry guys ~~~ I’m a Taiwanese kid ~~~
ummmm saying sorry for the police ~~
but there’s something that matters most ~~
in Taiwan no matter if there is police or not ~
follow the light ignore the police !!
second , some police is weird so they will ticket you
because they did it ~~ hehehe you must be curious about
what do I mean by "they need it "
it means that they got a feat problem ~~
which means that they need it to let their boss now that they are really doing their work ~~~
so here comes some ways to solve these problems
first one ~~ it’s a little bit tricky but useful well-use your
identity as a foreigner act as you don’t know Chinese even you do .
second ~~~ ignore him and keep going
third~~~ call your Taiwanese friend and ask them to talk to the police
forth ~~~ call me if you want ~~ hehehehehehe
fifth ~~~ look for the badge on his arm it shoul got some numbers on it , remember it ~~ it’s him id number as a police ,than you can find him easily (sue him or whatever you want ~~~~)
last ~~~ grab some one who walks by and ask them to translate for you (find a young one , aged 17-28 ~~it’s important )
so that’s it~~~feel free to ask ppl who walk by !!
[quote=“love-for-hoby”]so here comes some ways to solve these problems
first one ~~ it’s a little bit tricky but useful well-use your
identity as a foreigner act as you don’t know Chinese even you do .[/quote]
Problem = many policemen do speak English.
Problem = this will simply get the policeman angry and almost guarantee you a fine/ticket.
Last guy wrote (sorry having problems with the quote thingy and I’m lazy):
Yes, but it would be nice to have another story about a run-in with the police.
How does someone get into trouble with the police in Taiwan? The OP’s story baffles me. He gets stopped for jaywalking and gets his ARC card taken from him, a hard time, and a ticket. I get stopped on more than one occasion riding my bike hammered, asked for my passport and tell them it’s not on me, get a lift home while one cop rides my bicycle home, and told to have a good night when they drop me off. All the while I had been overstaying my visa for a trillion months. Wake up the next day and go for a bacon and cheese sandwich at the shop accross the street from the police station.
I didn’t read all ten pages…so I’m replying to the OP.
I think your friend meant Taiwan people “fear”…or maybe “are disgusted by” the police. I’m afraid you need some smarter friends…most of my Taiwanese friends agree that Taiwanese Police are the lowest class of humans on the Island.
A related story…I knew a girl in Chung-Li who kept getting pulled over by the cops to check her ID. Twice a week on average…seemed like they were either trying to hassel her…or maybe flirt with her?? Who knows…anyway finally she got sick of it and the next time they asked for her ID she just said “No.” . They let her go of course.
I had a pig…err…cop start talking to me outside my condo complex…and he asked me which one I lived in (the number). I asked him why he wanted to know…and he seemed shocked that I didn’t answer him. He said he just wanted to know…and I said it wasn’t his business.
Take a look in Vroom Vroom for the “police in Taiwan” thread…there is one story of an actuall police officer stealing a watch and some other items from a foreigner’s home. My ex-girlfriend’s neighbor got their first new car stolen…by a police officer.
Tell him my address? How about I just write down my home address and hand it out to every tatoo covered bing-lang chewing gangster on the street…that’d be a much safer move.
But like someone said above…cop asks for your ID…say you forgot it at home. On the very odd chance that he wants to ticket you for not having your ID (chances are he wouldn’t know that he was able to do that…or how to)…you can just say “Oh, wait a minute…here it is.”
