i dont understand ypur point, gun awareness and gun safety is always taught to soldiers, in any army, in any country. If soldiers play with guns they should be punished, because its dangerous, and their commanders should be punished for not maintaining discipline and safety in their unit. its not something unique to Taiwan, its universal.
When I was in boot camp they really didnāt teach gun safety or drilled it in. It should. They just had us clean them all the time, and shoot them every so often. We had our routines for clearing them but the danger is people assume that they are unloaded when cleared. Doesnāt help that the gun looks like toys too.
Sure ammo isnāt being kept around base and there are strict procedures to check them out, but how can you be sure someone didnāt put a round in the chamber when you arenāt looking? Guys should be made to do extra duty or physical stuff if they even so much as sweep someone with the muzzle or put their finger on the trigger when they arenāt shooting.
In another life when I was in military training we werenāt even allowed to shoot the guns until we knew how to disassemble and reassemble them let alone standard operating procedure of gun safety (always assume itās loaded). If people canāt safely operate a single round bolt action weapon then why would you give them anything above that? In the US the police are trained to assume that all situations may involve deadly weapons and to empty their clip into the suspect before asking questions. This has been 40 years in the making. It will probably take a lot longer than that to undo. As for Taiwan there have been plenty of instances where police have used their service weapons for their own protection although these instances are usually very well coordinated with intelligence.
Or not - the amount of times that a Taiwan police officer gets killed trying to physically fight/disarm someone with a knife is sad really.
It is simple really: being attacked by knife = lethal force encounter; use firearm !!!
There are exceptions of course (ancient grandma with a knife, kids, etc ), but generally it is the case.
On a side note, I wonder how their training treats knives, overall.
Most cops donāt encounter deadly force situations for a very long time, if ever. So if you have been trained in your academy years, after 10 years of service there may be that one situation that gets you killed. Itās not an easy job. Theyāre supposed to be trained with knives since most suspect are likely to use them, but I suppose without regular refreshment training gets lost. I am not even sure cops in Taiwan gets qualified on firearms at all.
And in some countries cops donāt carry firearms at all.
I can only find two examples of Taiwan police officers killed while on duty. One was stabbed. One was beaten to death by 60 people. If youve got more examples please share them. Until then Iāll continue to believe that Taiwan is a relatively safe place. Except for the morons in Mercs and BMWs that think traffic rules are optional.
Jeesus! When was that?
Guy
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Seem to remember this happening outside a Xinyi nightclub a few years ago. Something gang-related. There was also an incident when I first arrived where a young officer didnāt properly search someone they had arrested and the guy cut their throat from the back seat.
This is why police cars in the states have the back seat completely isolated and all thatā¦
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https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/2578168
The death of Hsueh has provoked doubts about collusion between nightclub owners, gangsters and local police officers.
I had wondered about that!
If you are saying most police in Taiwan donāt encounter deadly force situations for a very long time, maybe. In other countries that is not the case at all, with some officers encountering deadly force multiple times in one day.
I am not going to go searching for that, thanks. No stomach for it.
Off the top of my head, there was the officer who was killed on the train a couple years ago that was headlines everywhere.
And there was another incident on a train where there was tons of video - canāt recall the specifics on that one exactly.
In the past, I have a watched a fair number of YouTube videos of Taiwan officers fighting with people with knives and getting stabbed repeatedly - they donāt have to die to make it wrong.
I donāt have the stomach or motivation to go searching the internet for such things these days.
Well even in the US (depending on area of course) officers can spend their entire career not encountering deadly force situations as well.
But letās just say that most cops here, save for special force SWAT types, donāt get much training on their firearms. I suspect itās because shooting isnāt as emphasized as they are in the statesā¦ their job is to police, be a pillar of the community, not killing.
In many ways Taiwan police force is a bit like small town America before they had the crime wavesā¦ where police cars are just regular sedans outfitted with the required gears but does not have special isolated back seats to prevent suspects from attacking officers while in transit. In the US almost all police cars are outfitted like this, except for small town sheriffs because officers get killed all the time.
I think thatās the one plus about Taiwan, that for most part is still like pre-9/11 America.
Yes cars are the only thing affordable compared to Taiwan
Interest rates are currently about 3.99 pct per annum for sixty months they are sometimes as low as zero
Point nine For tier 1 credit and up to 4 times higher if you donāt have good credit
So basically a 40k car and a lot of cars are
Nearer 40k than 20k ten years ago costs around 700 to 800 a month but will lease for around 650 a month for 36 months
Itās still possible to get a lower end car for a lease of around 300 a month or purchase at around 450 a month
Couldnāt do those rates on the same car in Taiwan
But say comparing Calif to Taiwan cars are really the only thing cheaper
Our taxes amount to 30 to 40pct of your annual income after deductions paying federal and state taxes and social security tax and Medicare tax
Rent is easily double taiwans to triple
Income is higher but you need to offset the increased costs
Food is double to triple same goes for restaurants
Itās expensive in Calif !!!
I reckon if you take home 1000 usd a month in Taiwan you need to make 3000 usd a month in Calif just to be equal
Ps the other major expense is medical insurance which is ridiculously cheap in Taiwan compared to USA
Where if we are working our company plan for the employee alone is 100 to 300.a month but add a spouse for about 400 to 600 and each kid a few hundred more
Medical insurance is insane
For example mine through company plan is about 80 a month for minimum coverage for myself add my wife for 650 a month
I got her coverage through covered Calif a subsidized govt program which brings it down to 450 a month for her
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I doubt it - even in small town America there is currently a major Meth epidemic. That means crazy people with guns and knives. Now, āencountering a deadly force situationā as you stated above, does to me, not mean that the officer discharged their firearm; it means that they were presented with a lethal threat that could potentially ended in a discharge of their firearm. As such, I think that most officers in (close to all of) America have encountered a deadly force situation.
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I witnessed a Taiwanese police officer discharge his pistol at a fleeing suspect in Tainan. I was on the 10th floor of an apartment building, looking down at an intersection where two rival gangs had set up shop on either side of the street. There was a bit of shouting going on, and a very clear command by the cop to āåā (if memory serves). The officer then discharged his firearm in an alley (I couldnāt see if he was actually pointing his firearm at the suspect or just shooting a warning shot). The police dogs and a dozen or so cop cars with flood lights came looking for the suspect, or maybe his body, but gave up after about an hour or so. These were lower level gangsters, so had no real protection.
Another time, the two gangs got into a fight in the middle of the night. It was quite a spectacle to behold. While they were hesitantly having a go (threatening) each other with baseball bats and watermelon knives, most of the damage was done to there scooters and to a car that was left after the fight was finished. One game came back and battered that car with baseball bats for quite some time. Must have been cathartic.
The only other time I saw cops interact with gangsters was when I was at the home of a č大 and the officers received a nice thick envelope after telling the members where the crackdowns were going to be for the next month. Those were in the days when having the name card of that guy (č大) was a get out of jail free card. Not so much anymore. The new generation of officers is relatively uncorrupted. Relativelyā¦ Theyāll tell you that theyāll call his number (say 3 am in the morning), and if he answers, you get to leave. If not, off to the nick.
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Yours might, but thatās not typical, even in california. You have to be doing really well to have those effective rates.
Well thatās almost me because I have a good tax guy but I would not say Iām doing really well after all that I must pay
Well Iām not living
Like a
Hermit though fair nuff
But Iām in Martinez with cows in pastures five mins drive away most definitely NOT in Danville or Blackrock where the maids drive audi
I mean Blackhawk see Iām so unqualified to not even know the correct name
To be married and mid 30% effective rate with fed, fica, and cal state tax, I bet youād have to be close to $500k primarily in earned income, with no tax guy, and pretty damn close to no deductions. I think most would chalk that up to doing pretty well 
I would generally put myself in the doing well category although not $500k well- my total income flips between where the (married) 24% marginal federal bracket and the 32% brackets are (that should tell you about where Iām at pretty close) - and Iāve only had an effective total rate just over 30% of taxable income twice, and only once over 30% of total income (and that was due to a lot of taxable work reimbursements that couldnāt be planned around).
Nope nowhere close maybe my tax guy aināt worth his fee
Not wanting to reveal too much but effective was just around 28pct I think
FYI a married couple making less than 200k is considered poor in the Bay Area
On that classification the Tomster newly went from lower middle class to upper low class
Just a step up from no class at all
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