Policing the Police in Asia: Police Oversight in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (SpringerBriefs in Criminology)

This brief offers an overview of the prevailing debates in police oversight and accountability through an analysis of policing in Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan. It places emphasis on three major controversies of oversight: professionalism, representation, and empowerment. Arguing that traditional models do not accurately depict variations in police systems in Asia, the volume aims to bring attention to the implementation of these three concepts and clearly articulate the power relationship within these Asian police oversight mechanisms. This brief will be a useful resource for researchers in policing as well as criminologists, political scientists, and sociologists, particularly those specializing in East Asia. Book Keywords Acknowledgement Contents About the Authors Chapter 1: A Helicopter View of the Police Oversight Mechanisms in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan 1.1 Studying Police Oversight Mechanism: Models and Typologies 1.2 Purposes of Police Oversight 1.3 From Literature: What Is ‘Good’ Oversight Mechanism? 1.3.1 Independence and Impartiality 1.3.2 Accessibility 1.3.3 Fairness 1.3.4 Transparency 1.3.5 Empowerment 1.3.6 Directional-Setting 1.3.7 Flexibility 1.4 Our Research Questions 1.5 Three Jurisdictions: Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan 1.5.1 The Socio-Political Context 1.5.2 The Legal System 1.5.3 The Policing System 1.6 Three Key Controversies: Professionalism, Representation and Empowerment 1.7 Chapter Arrangement References Chapter 2: Professionalism: A Scarecrow for the Non-democratic Policing System in Hong Kong 2.1 Structural Features and Roles of the Oversight Bodies 2.2 Operating Procedures 2.2.1 Intake 2.2.2 Investigation 2.2.3 Appeal 2.3 The Two-Tier System in Stagnation 2.4 Scarecrow Fallen 2.5 Concluding Remark References Chapter 3: Representation: Police Oversight Mechanism in the Democratic Japan 3.1 Structural Features and Roles of the Oversight Bodies 3.2 Operating Procedures 3.2.1 Intake 3.2.2 Investigation 3.2.3 Appeal 3.3 Evolving for Representativeness: NPSC and PPSC 3.4 Representation with Questionable Professionalism and Empowerment 3.5 Concluding Remark References Chapter 4: Empowerment: ‘Control Yuan’ As Constitutionally Empowered Oversight Unit in Taiwan 4.1 Structural Features and Roles of the Oversight Bodies 4.2 Operating Procedures 4.2.1 Intake 4.2.2 Investigation 4.2.3 Appeal 4.3 Transformation: Scattered But Empowered 4.3.1 IAO Investigator to Police Their Counterparts? 4.4 Empowering the External Agencies: The Panacea? 4.5 Concluding Remark References Chapter 5: Conclusion: Why to Reform? What to Stress? How to Improve? 5.1 Institutional Arrangement 5.2 Insiders’ Perspective on Police Oversight 5.3 Reflection from our Findings 5.3.1 ‘Professionalism’ vs ‘Democracy’ in Police Oversight? 5.3.2 Empowerment of the Oversight Body 5.3.3 Historical Conjuncture and Regime Leadership 5.4 Demystifying the Prejudice on Police Oversight 5.4.1 Police Hate Be Oversighted? 5.4.2 Police to Police the Police? 5.4.3 Democratic Oversight Means Better Policing? 5.5 Concluding Remark References Index