A survey on public’s approval of city or county’s performance in lowering crime rates conducted by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) was announced on the 14th. The survey found people in Taichung least satisfied with social order in the city. As the survey was conducted right after the poisoning case in Taichung City, City Councilman Jheng-chung Yang questioned the fairness of the survey for Taichung City. To response to the survey, Mayor Hu promised to review the statistics and make more efforts to improve social order in the city and he would not think about the motives behind the survey or the controversy. In the City Council Meeting, City Councilman Jheng-chung Yang questioned the intention of National Police Agency for the timing of survey and announcement. According to the statistics of Taichung City, from 2002 to the first quarter of this year, citizens in Taichung expressed approval of the city’s performance in maintaining social order, yet such statistics was never announced. Also, the survey for the second quarter is usually conducted from June 1st to 9th, but NPA intentionally chose to conduct the survey from May 20th to 28th, right after the poisoning case in Taichung. Hence, residents’ approval of Taichung City dropped sharply from 67.3 of the first quarter to 50.10 in the second quarter. The intention of the NPA was questionable, argued the Councilman. To respond to the Councilman, Hu that pressure gave him more energy to work even harder and he would not think about the reasons behind the survey. However, he did ask Chief of Taichung Police Department Ku-fu Ye if the result of the survey was announced before. According to Ye, the result of the survey has never been announced before since 2002 and the statistics are used merely for reference. For instance, in March this year, the approval rate of Taichung City was 67.31, ranked 22nd among all counties and cities, but the statistics was not announced. Nevertheless, since the result has been announced, he would review the statistics and strive to improve. He could understand the dissatisfaction of residents in Taichung City right after the poisoning case, but the most important things now was to ensure that such thing would not happen again, said Mayor Hu. When asked by journalists, Mayor Hu said the approval rate of Taichung City’s performance in maintaining social order has been improving for the last four years. From 2002 to 2004, the approval rates were 56.6, 61.8 and 63.35, respectively. The approval rate in March 2003 was 67.31, yet the approval rate dropped to 50.10. The survey was conducted from May 20th to 28th, and the poisoning case of the energy drink “Bullwild” occurred on the 18th and solved on the 27th. Hence, the approval rate of Taichung City in the survey was influenced by the poisoning case. If the survey was conducted after May 27th, the approval rate would probably be better. We have limited manpower and resources and the police department in Taichung City were under great pressure, said Mayor Hu. He mentioned many times that the city’s crime rate could be lowered if Taichung City has 4000 policemen, like Kaohsiung City. In the past three to four years, the policemen in the city worked very hard. For instance, the police department took 8 months to solve a similar case like the poisoning case. This time, they took only 9 days and he appreciated their efforts. Seeing the drop of approval rate, he would certainly do his best as a Mayor to make improvements. In addition, Hu also mentioned a report he saw on TV, saying how people passing by helped a victim of a robbery catch the robber and sent him to the police office. For him, these people deserve some rewarding and the Chief of the police office said they have given NT$5000 rewards to these citizens for their courage. The Mayor believed citizens should be encouraged to help the police. Certainly, safety of our citizens is very important, but the police needs our help to lower crime rate. From January to April this year, the crime rate of the country rated 0.77%, but the crime rate in Taichung City lowered 6.4% and the approval rate of residents in Taichung also improved from 36 four years to 56 this year. He hoped the survey this time was an exception, and he would do his best to make improvements.