Two Hsinchu Police Officers Indicted for Leaking Confidential Information and Illegal Searches

The Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office recently concluded its investigation and indicted a major case involving police discipline and information security. According to the prosecutors, Officer Wu and Officer Du, both active-duty police officers with the Xinhu Precinct of the Hsinchu County Police Bureau, allegedly abused their power while on official duty. Not only did they privately leak sensitive internal operational information, such as the deployment of police roadblocks, to a friend named Wang, but Officer Wu also allegedly conducted illegal queries of citizens' personal data, while Officer Du allegedly returned a motorcycle held in police custody to another person without authorization. Following an in-depth investigation by prosecutors from the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office, the two officers were deemed to have committed serious offenses and have been formally indicted under the Criminal Code for the offense of leaking secrets other than national defense, dealing another heavy blow to the rule of law and ethical awareness among frontline police officers.

The core of this case lies in the control of sensitive internal data within police agencies and vulnerabilities in information security defenses. The planning of daily police duties, particularly deployments for roadblocks, interceptions, and crackdowns targeting specific security hotspots or time periods, possesses a high degree of confidentiality and time sensitivity. Its purpose is to prevent crime, investigate illegal activities, and ensure public tranquility. However, according to the prosecutors' indictment, Officers Wu and Du of the Xinhu Precinct privately disclosed this information, which is vital to public safety and law enforcement deployment, to an outsider, their friend Wang. Such behavior not only severely undermines the command system and confidentiality regulations of the police agency, but information leakage may also significantly undermine the expected effectiveness of law enforcement, and even allow criminals to anticipate police movements to evade capture, posing a potential threat to overall public security maintenance work.

In addition to leaking operational information, Officer Wu also crossed legal red lines in the exercise of his official authority. Investigators discovered that Officer Wu allegedly used his position to illegally query citizens' personal data without any legitimate official need. While police officers are legally authorized to use vehicle registration, household registration, and criminal record query systems administered by the National Police Agency of the Ministry of the Interior and related entities for work purposes, the use of these systems is bound by strict legal regulations and information security audit mechanisms. The Personal Data Protection Act and related internal police reward and punishment regulations explicitly prohibit abusing public office for private gain or conducting unauthorized queries. Officer Wu's illegal retrieval of personal data not only violated citizens' privacy rights but also severely trampled upon the principle of lawful administration that civil servants are obligated to strictly observe, highlighting that some frontline officers still need to strengthen their legal awareness regarding personal data protection and information security.

On the other hand, Officer Du, who is implicated in the same case, was involved in violating seizure property custody procedures. In Taiwan's judicial police practice, items seized due to cases, including vehicles and evidence, are subject to strict inventory, registration, and custody regulations. They may not be returned without authorization or handed over to others for disposal unless directed by a prosecutor or upon completion of the statutory procedures for releasing the seizure. However, prosecutors found that Officer Du allegedly handed over a motorcycle held in police custody by law to another person without authorization. This arbitrary approach not only violated administrative procedures for managing seized items but could also lead to subsequent disputes over the loss or destruction of evidence in judicial prosecution proceedings, negatively impacting the fairness of criminal litigation and the integrity of evidence.

The incident involving the indictment of the Xinhu Precinct officers has once again thrust the issues of police integrity and legal education into the public spotlight. As executors of the state's legitimate force and guardians of social order, police personnel should naturally be held to higher moral standards and legal norms. In recent years, although the National Police Agency and local police bureaus have continuously emphasized internal control mechanisms such as "self-inspection and self-purification" and "disciplinary projects," and have prevented illegal activities through strengthened information security audits and disciplinary supervision, frontline officers still occasionally break the law due to personal friendships or expedience. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office's prosecution of the involved officers in accordance with the law demonstrates the strict stance of the judiciary and issues a strong warning to all law enforcement personnel. Only by implementing internal controls, enforcing the law strictly, and deepening legal education can public trust in the police system be regained.