China's national police force will undergo large-scale
re-deployment that will see many of its administrative officers
assigned to protect local communities, both rural and urban.
The Ministry of Public Security said that at least one police
officer will be assigned to all urban neighborhoods and that most
rural villages will now benefit from their own police station.
Currently, many urban districts only have one police station and
numerous villages or communities in the vast countryside have no
resident police officer or station. The notice added that the
number of police will increase further in urban areas with higher
crime rates.
As nearly half of the country's police force is made up of
administrative officers, the ministry has vowed to deploy more of
them to communities, to increase access to policemen by residents
in need. The notice did not indicate how many officers might be
involved in the re-assignment. China's national police force has
490,000 members. Walking the beat involves police mainly patrolling
communities, investigating crime and undertaking community
research, it said.
All officers, previously attached to administrative duty, that
are re-assigned to specific community or rural police stations will
receive further training once deployed to their new positions.
Police who are sent to remote villages will be given a subsidy
if their spouse goes with them. The ministry also suggested that
new police stations be built near community or village offices to
help forge closer ties with local authorities.
(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)