FEATURE: Don’t blame the protesters, police officers’ families say
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter
While the families of many police officers criticized the Sunflower movement and called for an end to the occupation of the Legislative Yuan so that their loved ones could go home, the families of some officers hold a different view, saying that the system — not the protesters — was at fault.
Most of the 24-hour news channels in the nation recently ran reports of the Facebook posts of the daughter of Zhongzheng First Police Precinct Chief Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), saying how sad and worried the family was when they saw more than 1,000 people protesting outside the station in Taipei on Friday last week, calling her father a liar and demanding that he step down over a controversial move to disperse the crowd in front of the Legislative Yuan after the legislative siege ended.
However, another netizen wrote on Facebook: “It would be a legitimate move even if the crowd were to tear down the precinct’s office building.”
Both the parents of the netizen, surnamed Chiu (邱), are police officers.
In an interview with the Taipei Times, Chiu said that she not only supports the protesters’ call for Fang to step down, but she also disagrees with the families of officers who urged the protesters who kept the legislature under siege for 23 days to quickly withdraw so that the officers could go home and be with their families.
“I totally understand how it feels to be a member of the family of a police officer. I understand the concern, especially when the officer is dispatched to the scene of a demonstration, because my mother — who is more than 50 years old — is an officer and is often dispatched to demonstrations,” Chiu said. “However, I think the officers’ families were appealing to the wrong people when they called on the demonstrators to quickly end their protest.”
It is wrong to stop the public from protesting because people have the right of assembly, Chiu said.
If police officers and their families are truly concerned about the working conditions of officers, they should make their appeal to their superiors and push for reforms of duty and shift assignments, Chiu added.
“My mom is more than 50 years old and often sent to demonstrations. I have seen police officers the same age as my mom or older who have to stand on the front line for a long time. Frankly, I still feel sad whenever I see that,” Chiu said. “So, I think it would be a better idea to make it a rule that officers beyond a certain age should not serve on the front line during demonstrations or they should be assigned fewer hours on more strenuous missions.”
Chiu added that it is especially saddening to see elder officers and protesters pushing and shoving each other.
She concurred with the comments by some officers’ families that most officers are good, hard-working people, but that demonstrators seem to view them as their enemies.
However, there should be a system to separate the “bad cops” from the “good cops,” she said.
“No one can deny that there are officers who use excessive force when they evict protesters, but they can always hide behind good cops, forcing everyone to share the public condemnation. Naturally, the officers who did not do anything wrong would feel upset with those accusations,” she said. “If there is no system to hold bad cops responsible for their wrongdoing, they will continue to hide behind their colleagues, pretending to be nice people, while the good, law-abiding cops suffer.”
Asked why she thought Fang should resign, Chiu said the police chief had promised the night before that police would leave the demonstrators alone, but later said they should leave or face eviction.
“He is not an ordinary cop — he is a high-ranking officer who has power, so he should be held responsible for his controversial decision — as well as his other controversial behavior in the past,” Chiu said. “The protesters were not the only victims [of Fang’s decision], but the cops on the front line who could only follow his orders also suffered.”
Another woman surnamed Huang (黃), whose father retired from the force earlier this year, agreed, saying the families of police officers should not hold protesters responsible for the officers having to work long hours.
“The officers’ families appealed to the wrong people,” Huang said. “Long working hours and irregular shifts have long been a problem for the police. Something has to change and reform should start from the inside.”
Huang said when her father was still working, he would sometimes get off work at 10pm, but had to go back to work again at 7am.
“Even my mom sometimes got confused about my dad’s shift schedule,” she said. “It’s a problem that’s existed for a long time and people should not blame it on the demonstrators.”
Huang said that officers should push for the creation of a police union — which is currently banned — and fight for their rights.
“With a union, officers can push for a better shift system and during protests officers could even pressure government officials to respond and shorten their working hours,” Huang said. “I think that forming a union to push for change within the system is the only reasonable way to protect officers’ rights.”
Iok-sin Loa:[簡譯] 父母都是警察的邱姓警眷表示，她很能理解警察的辛苦，也完全能體會警眷對於自己家人執勤的擔心，但認為警眷為自己家人發聲訴求的對象不該是抗議民眾，因為民眾有集會遊行的權利，他們不是害警察的人，「而是這個體制沒有保護警察，該改善的是警察的人事制度」，警察應該站出來爭取自己的權益。她舉例說，經常在集會遊行現場看到年邁的抗議者跟年邁的警察彼此拉扯「那個場面看起來很淒涼！」她建議，或許可以在人事規則中訂立某個年齡以上的員警就不派往集會遊行第一線執勤。
針對警察暴力問題，邱姓警眷表示，雖然不是每個警察都會這樣，但警察中的確存在一些比較惡質的員警，但警察體制中卻沒辦法揪出這些惡警，結果社會罵名只能由警察全體承擔，沒有打人的員警當然會不爽，打人的警察可以「永遠隱藏在一大票同事背後假裝自己是好警察，自我感覺良好，其他好警察反而活在痛苦之中」。
對於民眾包圍中正一分局要求局長方仰寧下台，邱姓警眷則說，那天晚上，即使群眾「拆了中正一也是正正當當」。她痛批方仰寧的爭議行為由來已久，雖然有些事情他推說是上級指示「但你不是基層員警，是手中握有裁量權的高階警官耶！上面有拿刀子架著你嗎？你不會自己判斷嗎？」方下了命令，基層員警也只能服從，「倒楣的還是基層。」
令一名警眷黃小姐也認同邱的說法，覺得警察過勞的問題應該朝體制內改革，而不是一味指責抗爭民眾，「這樣是搞錯訴求對象！」黃說，警察過勞的問題不只存在於發生抗爭的時候，而是平常班表都排得就都很亂，她說，她擔任警察的父親很少支援集會遊行勤務，「但他常常晚上十點才下班，早上六、七點又要準備出門去上班」，「不是有集會遊行時才會這樣」。
黃小姐感嘆，警察工作勞動條件很差，但礙於工作特殊性，很多人都不敢出來講話，思想、言論自由都遭到箝制，因此她認為警察應該團結起來，出面組織工會爭取權益，才能保障自己的勞動條件。
以下是2012-06-15警眷上街頭抗議相關報導。
615警察節 警眷聚集立院前抗議
〔本報訊〕今天是615警察節，許多警察與眷屬上午齊上街頭，連小朋友都戴著口罩參與在立法院前抗議，怒喊「無能政府，血汗警政署」，提出「反過勞、反關說、反打壓」等訴求。
警察過勞死事件頻傳，引發警眷不滿，臉書因而發起「615警眷的吶喊，警察的心酸」遊行活動。有人喊出「還我老公來！不要當寡婦！」口號，希望內政部長李鴻源、警政署長王卓鈞等出面回應，重視基層警員及警眷心聲。
警眷搬出看板，「寧願被歹徒打死，也不要過勞死。」希望政府及警政署重視。
傳警過勞死 家屬指分局未助撫卹
又傳出警察過勞的意外，在新北市樹林分局當警察的王琮郁，八月初凌晨，在家中死亡，家屬指出，王琮郁死前一天工作15小時，休假還被召回受訓，就是過勞死，結果樹林分局不願協助因公撫卹的申請，讓家屬又心痛又氣憤。
==王琮郁母親==
我還跟他CPR
口對口跟他人工呼吸
還是救不回他的命
捧著兒子的遺照，王媽媽聲淚俱下，因為在新北市樹林分局擔任偵查佐的兒子，才27歲，半夜睡到沒呼吸過世。白髮人送黑髮人讓她難以承受。
==王琮郁母親==
他一條命還給我
王琮郁的哥哥指出，他在過世前一個月，加班超過100小時，過世前幾天，甚至一天工作超過15小時，好不容易休假竟然還被要求，要參加受訓否則記過，他痛批弟弟心因性猝死就是過勞死，結果樹林分局竟然說他是在家死亡，不願意協助申請因公撫卹。
==王琮郁哥哥==
親口對著我爸媽說
警察是不適用過勞的
而且琮郁是休假的時候猝死的
也不適用於因公
==立委 吳宜臻==
所以你死最好不要死在家裡
你最好操勞成疾的時候
你撐也要撐在你的辦公室
不過樹林分局解釋，不是不送申請，而是還在蒐集相關資料。
==新北市樹林分局人事室主任 卓明順==
我們不是沒有處理
但是公家機關總是要(花時間)
當天的時候
我也有跟王爸爸 王媽媽講
我們會積極的 蒐集相關事證
因公撫卹必須由員警所服務的機關來提出申請，但家屬指控，一開始樹林分局還想吃案，令人痛心。而根據警眷組成的警聲會統計，這五年來已經有44名警察因為過勞死亡，比例比殺人案跟車禍死亡率、還要高。
記者 林靜梅 陳立峰 台北報導
明天就是警察節，有幾位基層員警的太太，今天現身立法院哭訴自己的先生，有人又是做總務、又兼作管區，還要拚績效，疑似休息不夠，累倒在值班台，現在全殘；還有人說自己的先生值班24小時，隔天還得正常上班，目前全台灣警力缺額達5300人，立委質疑就是人力不足，導致警察過勞，而警政署也說，已經規劃5年內增加1萬4千名員警。
警察眷屬：「警察的生命保障在哪裡？」
蕭太太哭得泣不成聲，因為自己的先生，在新竹從事警察工作，之前抓贓車，等了12分鐘，都叫不到支援，事後還遭內部調查，因為情緒激動，血壓飆高送醫，還有警察眷屬哭訴，自己的先生疑似因為過勞，現在全殘，昏迷指數4。
警察眷屬：「值班的時候，在值班台昏倒，醫生診斷是腦幹出血，現在的狀況是極重度殘障、全殘，我真的很心疼我先生，我老公做得這麼辛苦，做這麼多績效，但是卻落得這樣，一個警察24小時服完勤，他第二天還要接著上班，他有打不完的公文，他要(拚)績效。」
基層員警的太太，心疼自己的先生，常常為了拚績效、做專案，睡眠不足，壓力過大，立委也指出，近幾年，疑似過勞死的員警，年紀都不超過40歲，攤開警政署100年統計資料也說，現有警力缺額達5300人。
警政署副署長：「希望能夠在(未來)5年當中，增加1萬4千名(警察)。」
警政署強調，1年多前，就已經警覺到人力有問題，但無法再忍5年，6月15日就是警察節，不滿的眷屬已經準備走上街頭，呼籲相關單位正視警察的權益。
警察眷屬：「警察的生命保障在哪裡？」
蕭太太哭得泣不成聲，因為自己的先生，在新竹從事警察工作，之前抓贓車，等了12分鐘，都叫不到支援，事後還遭內部調查，因為情緒激動，血壓飆高送醫，還有警察眷屬哭訴，自己的先生疑似因為過勞，現在全殘，昏迷指數4。
警察眷屬：「值班的時候，在值班台昏倒，醫生診斷是腦幹出血，現在的狀況是極重度殘障、全殘，我真的很心疼我先生，我老公做得這麼辛苦，做這麼多績效，但是卻落得這樣，一個警察24小時服完勤，他第二天還要接著上班，他有打不完的公文，他要(拚)績效。」
基層員警的太太，心疼自己的先生，常常為了拚績效、做專案，睡眠不足，壓力過大，立委也指出，近幾年，疑似過勞死的員警，年紀都不超過40歲，攤開警政署100年統計資料也說，現有警力缺額達5300人。
警政署副署長：「希望能夠在(未來)5年當中，增加1萬4千名(警察)。」
警政署強調，1年多前，就已經警覺到人力有問題，但無法再忍5年，6月15日就是警察節，不滿的眷屬已經準備走上街頭，呼籲相關單位正視警察的權益。
沒有留言 :
張貼留言