Taipei Police defends officers amid criticisms in wake of attacks

Taipei Police defends officers amid criticisms in wake of attacks

2025-12-22

Taipei police were criticized for being slow to respond to last Friday’s attacks. Tthe aggressor had carried out two attacks within 75 minutes, and committed arson three times earlier in the afternoon before the stabbings. On Monday, the director of the Taipei City Police Department explained that given the circumstances and how meticulously the attacks were planned, the officers did done all they possibly could have.

Taipei police are under fire for being “slow” in responding to last Friday’s mass attacks and identifying the instigator. It’s alleged that their handheld transceivers weren’t functioning at the time of the crime.

Huang Jie
Lawmaker (DPP)
The walkie-takie wasn’t connected. That’s really serious.

Chang Jung-hsing
National Police Agency director
It’s simply impossible. They had to verify first that the arsonist was the same person. I believe the police were racing with time when they arrived at the scene.

Looking at security footage from the day, the attacker appeared quite confident while he carried a gas tank to the back of a hotpot restaurant on Chang’an East Road and set the vehicles parked there on fire. At 3:48 p.m. on the 19th, he first committed arson at two locations on Linsen North Road, and then at Chang’an East Road. Critics are wondering why the police did not react there and then.

Chang Yao-jen
Zhongshan Precinct
The leadership at the local police station was notified in the group chat by borough wardens of the arsons on separate occasions. At 5:41 p.m., we identified the instigator as the man surnamed Chang.

After the three arson attacks, Chang returned to his rented residence and set it on fire. A great number of canisters were found on the site. Within an hour, he committed arson at three different locations, and it took just as long to track him down.

Chen Jui-chi
Zhongcheng First Precinct director
After his facial features were captured more clearly on camera, and corroborated with the intel from Zhongshan Precinct, we interviewed the landlord of his residence on Gongyuan Road to confirm his identity. The entire process took 73 minutes. Immediately afterwards, we began our mission to capture him.

By then, the aggressor had begun to set off smoke bombs at Taipei Main Station. The chief of the local police station and his team arrived on scene just nine minutes later, when the attacker had already gone to his hotel room to change and pick up more weapons for the knife attacks at Zhongshan. Within 75 minutes, he’d committed homicide in two locations. Why wasn’t he stopped?

Chen Jui-chi
Zhongcheng First Precinct director
He set off 17 smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails to induce chaos at the scene. It was clearly planned in advance to divert the police. But our team still managed to identify him despite his efforts to distract us.

Amid criticism, the Taipei City police hopes that the public could be more understanding and offer encouragement to officers.

Lee Hsi-ho
Taipei City Police Department director
We humbly accept all criticisms and feedback, but I believe our colleagues can all do with simple words of encouragement.

According to the police, the aggressor had planned the whole attack so well that officers did all they could. They say they will continue to remain vigilant, as always.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#breaking #breakingnews #taipeiattacks #publicsafety #taipeimetro