Police forces in China will be gradually expanded to ease the
country's severe shortage of officers, a senior official said
yesterday.
Typically developed countries have 35 police officers for every
10,000 citizens but the ratio in China is around 11 for the same
number of citizens. This is less than developing countries like
Brazil and India, according to figures from the Ministry of Public
Security.
"The police shortage has existed for quite a long time and it
has become increasingly pressing," Li Mingzhen, deputy director of
the ministry's personnel bureau, said at a press conference
yesterday.
He warned that the country could experience more crime and
public disorder in the coming years as the experience of other
countries has shown that crime rates rise when a country's
per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) is between US$1,000 and
US$3,000.
The shortage of officers created a heavy workload for those in
place and can harm their health. Ministry spokesman Wu Heping said
yesterday that in some police departments over 60 percent of
officers suffer from chronic diseases.
Ministry investigators found that police in Beijing and Tianjin
municipalities and Hebei Province work an average of 20 extra hours
every week. Some criminal and grassroots-level police work 50 extra
hours a week, the equivalent of 110 extra days a year, but with
insufficient overtime pay.
Official statistics show that in 2005 of the 414 officers who
died 154 of them, 37.2 percent, lost their lives from
health-related issues. Cardio-vascular diseases, which claimed 115
lives, were the number one cause.
Faced with such circumstances, Li said China required to expand
its police force in the coming years though an immediate sharp
increase?would be?impossible.
According to the Regulation on the Administration of Public
Security Organs, which took effect this month, police are
considered to be "civil servants". This means any expansion of
their ranks requires approval of a special administration under the
State Council.
Insufficient funding may also hinder?any?recruitment
especially in poor western regions, according to the ministry.
The regulation makes it clear that spending by police
departments should be included in the budgets of local governments
but the economic differences between the eastern and western parts
of the country could result in an uneven availability of
funding.
To ease the pressure caused by the shortage of officers, the
ministry has demanded a cut in the number of administrative
personnel and an increase in grassroots-level police.
Administrative officers should account for less than 10 percent of
the total staff at a police station.
The regulation also states that if the already over-burdened
can't get holidays they must receive more pay. "The police are also
human beings and they should have rest and fair pay," Wu said.
Li Minzhen also disclosed that Chinese police are to employ
civilian staff for administrative posts and non-security sensitive
jobs.
?
Posts for software programmers, traffic assistants and secretaries
would be opened to civilians. All the civilian positions would be
auxiliary jobs or require specialist skills.
However, such a move requires approval from central or
provincial authorities in charge of civil servant affairs before
implementation. "It would allow us to save limited police resources
and make better use of social resources," said Li.
The spokesman also said mainland police departments would work
closely with their counterparts in Taiwan to fight against the
growing number of cross-Straits crimes.
A driver who robbed an armored bank delivery vehicle and stole
56 million New Taiwan dollars (US$1.75 million) in Taipei was sent
back to the island over the weekend after being caught by mainland
police in southwest China's Yunnan Province on January 9.
Ministry figures show that since 2000 mainland police have sent
123 suspects back to Taiwan.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2007)