Yen has written in an article that under martial law, police jurisdiction was over-extended by a series of executive orders. Police were instructed to get people to pay their taxes, pass out tax bills, investigate illicit production of alcohol and cigarettes, deal with illegal construction, and so on.
顏世錫曾為文指出，戒嚴時期太多行政法擴張警察的工作範圍，舉凡催繳稅款、遞送稅單，查緝私宰私煙私酒，取締違建等都曾是警察機關的重要業務。