Police academy hosts Taiwanese cadets
Students visit during 18-day trip to study American policing
Houston Senior Police Officer Ed Lem issued a warning to the crowd of students gathered around him.
“You’re going to hear some explosions,” the HPD SWAT officer said Thursday, moments before a gas gun thumped behind him. “Don’t worry. It’s just a training device.”
The SWAT team explosives practice was part of a damp, cold day of learning for about two dozen special police cadets, many of them just out of high school and attending Taiwan’s Central Police University.
The students’ visit to the Houston Police Department’s training academy as part of an 18-day visit to Houston to study American law enforcement, English immersion and culture before they graduate and move into supervisory roles in Taiwan’s police, fire and emergency medical services.
The goal of the exchange is to expose the cadets to the philosophies of American policing, said Dr. Hsiao-Ming Wang, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown who arranged the tour. Wang was a former special agent in Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice before moving to the U.S. several decades ago to continue his studies here.
“(In Taiwan) we consider effectiveness more than human rights,” he said, explaining that he hoped seeing American policing in action would help them be better first responders in Taiwan. “Each student is a seed. (I hope) they will bring the law enforcement/democracy model back to Taiwan.”
On Thursday, his wards watched members of HPD’s Cadet Class 230 practicing at the academy’s gun range and performing tactical driving training, and observed the department’s SWAT team practice responding to a simulated hostage situation.
More than a half-dozen of the cadets will join Northeast patrol officers on ride-alongs later this week, said Capt. Greg Fremin.
For many of the cadets, the trip to the training academy was an
introduction to weaponry not available in Taiwan, where they said officers are usually only equipped with handguns or batons.
Pin-Ping Hsieh, a 27-year-old firefighter pursuing her master’s degree at the academy, said she was particularly impressed by the department’s use of stun guns, which aren’t used widely in Taiwan.
“The tactics and devices don’t appear in my country,” Hsieh said.
Sheng-Wen Huang, a 19-year-old freshman, was most impressed by the demonstration from the SWAT team.
“It really surprised me a lot,” he said, explaining that in Taiwan, police are more constrained in the actions they take when trying to save hostages’ lives.
The experiences have also gone beyond policing, the students said.
Huang, who is studying a foreign affairs track, was struck by Houston’s diversity.
“In Taiwan, there are many immigrants,” he said. “But Texas has more different people from every country.”
Yu-Chieh Su, a 20-yearold freshman studying information technology, said he appreciated the chance to work on his English. He hoped to return to the U.S. at some point to study coding as he pursues a career in cybersecurity.
Like Huang, he was impressed by the SWAT team’s demonstration. He also appreciated a chance to see everyday Houston, he said.
“I’ve met many interesting people — a Turkish Uber driver who told a lot of jokes,” he said.
He paused for a moment, then remembered the steak and hamburgers he’d had earlier in the week.
“And the food here is delicious!”