Fraud-related offenses contribute to prison overcrowding in Taiwan

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwan's prisons are experiencing overcrowding, with some facilities operating beyond their designed capacity due to a rise in the number of inmates, particularly for offenses related to fraud, Agency of Corrections Director Chou Hui-huang (周輝煌) said Monday.

Chou was speaking at a legislative committee session during which the issue of prison overcrowding was raised.

Chou said that fraud has now become the leading offense among inmates. As of June 22, Taiwan's authorized inmate capacity was 60,552, while the number of people imprisoned stood at 60,945 -- an excess of more than 300 inmates. The most overcrowded facility is Taoyuan Women's Prison.

Taoyuan prison's capacity is 1,027 inmates, but the number of inmates has consistently exceeded that number in recent years, reaching 1,499 on June 19, according to the agency's statistics.

Chou also said the government is implementing prison expansion and reconstruction plans. Projects at Bade Minimum-Security Prison in Taoyuan and Changhua Detention Center are expected to build capacity to accommodate 3,459 more inmates. Expansion plans for Taoyuan Women's Prison, Taipei Detention Center and Taipei Women's Detention Center are also ongoing.

In addition, the agency is proactively relocating inmates based on early warning indicators of overcrowding to ensure balanced inmate capacity and reduce custodial burdens.

During the committee session, Taiwan People's Party lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) noted that while the Agency of Corrections is pushing a "smart prison" initiative, according to a June 2 report from the National Audit Office, the Bade Minimum-Security Prison project failed preliminary inspections between January and March 2023, with 2,279 problems identified.

These issues range from system connectivity failures to uneven walls and other electrical or architectural defects. As of the end of March this year, 30 issues still remained unresolved, Huang added.

He asked the agency to report back to the committee on improvements being made within six weeks.