I have been the victim … again … of someone stealing a motorcycle which belongs to someone in my family. It happened to me about 10 months ago, and just this morning it happened to my wife. Now, having something stolen is part of life, and both myself and my wife have come to accept our misfortune, even if it is somewhat expensive (in the range of over 100 000 NTD) and even though we did everything we could to protect our investments (extra locks, putting “turn-off” buttons under the scooter, the usual things). Now, we have decided to buy second hand motorcycles just to get us from point A to point B, even though our original idea of buying new motorcycles to avoid high maintenance costs and to be safe still look good to us.
But, the thing which is really upsetting to me is the way we were treated by the police when we reported our motorcycles being stolen. The first time, I didn't have a whole lot to complain about, it just looked to me like the police officer in charge of taking our information didn't care a whole lot. But, today, we were told in no uncertain terms, both verbally and in terms of body language, that what we did just wasn't good enough for our neighborhood law enforcement officer. Not only did he have the audacity to refuse to take our statement when we went in to report the theft until WE had looked around the neighborhood for our motorcycle (which we had been doing anyways ... and isn't that their job, not ours?), but we were kept in a room which reeked of smoke and where we were subjected to glares and rude remarks from police oficers who insinuated that it was our fault that our motorcycle was stolen, and that there was nothing they could do to help us ... as if I didn't already know that from their body language and unprofessional attitude!!
I have always supported local law enforcement officers no matter where I have lived/worked, even here in Taiwan even though every day I see police looking the other way while drivers recklessly break traffic rules, speed, drink and drive, etc., but our treatment today has made me rethink my feelings. My wife (yes, she is Taiwanese) doesn't feel as strongly about this as I do, and I understand her opinions on the matter, but I really feel that we were almost shoved out the door so the officers at the station could all go back to playing the computer game I saw one of them fiddling with on a computer and two other officers look at longingly as we were talking. I would like to know what recourse I have to complain about our treatment ... I know there probably isn't a whole lot I can do, but if anyone has any ideas about how to hold these officers accountable, I am all ears!!