Taipei police admit fault over social worker's handcuffed perp walk

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) The Taipei police officer responsible for allowing a handcuffed social worker to be led before the media amid an investigation into a child's death in foster care will receive a formal reprimand, the city's police commissioner said, following a public outcry on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference, Commissioner Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the incident occurred on Tuesday after police searched the offices of the social worker's employer, the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF), and brought her back for questioning.

After giving a statement at a police station, the social worker, surnamed Chen (陳), was taken in handcuffs for further questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, having first been allowed to don a mask and hooded jacket to protect her reputation and privacy, Chang said.

In terms of the use of handcuffs, police should give consideration to the specifics of the case, Chang said, adding that in this instance, their use "was not consistent with the principle of proportionality."

As a result of the "lapse," the investigation squad chief responsible will be given a formal reprimand, and the case will be used for training purposes to prevent such instances in the future, Chang said.

The controversy stems from an investigation into the case of 1-year-old boy who died in December after allegedly being abused by a licensed Taipei nanny, who was serving as his foster caregiver while the CWLF tried to find an adoptive family for him.

The 29-year-old Chen, a social worker at the foundation who handled the boy's case, is under investigation for allegedly falsifying her case reports.

The social worker is also being probed for negligence leading to death, suggesting that prosecutors suspect she failed to fulfill her responsibilities in the boy's case, potentially contributing to the child's death.

While it is common for criminal suspects in Taiwan to be publicly led in and out of police stations or prosecutors' offices, sometimes in handcuffs, the fact that such treatment was given to Chen -- as a social worker suspected of a non-violent crime in a highly publicized case -- sparked controversy.

On Wednesday, a coalition of 22 civic groups including the Judicial Reform Foundation issued a statement criticizing the decision to handcuff Chen, whom they said had cooperated with investigators and posed no risk of fleeing or acting violently.

Moreover, leading Chen out of a police station in front of the media, with no consideration of her privacy, exposed her to "trial by public opinion" and infringed on her dignity and basic human rights, the groups said.

In a statement later in the day, President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) urged law enforcement handling Chen's case to "be mindful of the proportionality principal."

The National Police Agency, meanwhile, said it had asked the Taipei City police to review the incident, and sent a reminder to police forces nationwide to preserve the privacy of those under investigation and adhere to the principle of proportionality.

The proportionality principle, enshrined in Article 23 of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Constitution, stipulates that any use of state or administrative power must be proportional to the objective it seeks to achieve.