Q: It is reported that comprehensive measures for
improvement of public order have been adopted in China, which have
effectively prevented and reduced the crime rate and put China
among countries with the lowest crime rate in the world. What are
these major measures, and what are their features?
A: With the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy,
the public order has been straightened up in accompaniment to
economic development and a swift advance in people's living
standards. Anyone who has been to China at least twice can feel the
improvement. This is due, in part, to the comprehensive measures
adopted since the 1980s, giving equal importance to crackdown and
prevention, with both stopgap measures and solutions that work at
the root of the problem.
Cracking down on crime is the first and foremost step in
maintaining public order. Some regions are more troubled by serious
criminal offenses and public disorder, and so the government has
concentrated on cracking down on certain types of crimes during
certain periods and areas, all the while emphasizing the regular
execution of laws. At the same time, public security departments
are strengthening coordination with other parts of government to
enhance the efficiency of crackdown.
However, prevention measures are more effective than crackdown
in maintaining public order. With this belief, China has
established a four-part crime prevention and control mechanism,
carrying out measures in earnest to prevent and reduce illegal
activities. The mechanism is composed of four networks.
First is the community-level crime prevention and control
network. It functions mainly through the police station, patrol
police officers on duty and the criminal police squadron, with the
help of the community security committee and community policing
patrol, consisting of guards and volunteers.
Second is the society-level crime prevention and control
network. Designed to monitor trunk roads, key areas and locations
where criminal activities and accidents frequently occur, this
network can efficiently help prevent crimes and accidents.
Third is the network within an organization, institution or
company, comprised mainly of the unit's security group and policing
patrol.
Fourth is the network guarding against illegal activities at
areas bordering provinces, cities and counties, and where urban and
rural areas meet.
At the same time, the Chinese Government has strengthened the
administration of its population through administrative
jurisdictions at different levels and drawn distinctions between
people posing threats to the public order, such as the migrant
population, ex-convicts who are set free after serving their
sentences, shiftless and idle youth, and drug addicts.
As well, the government has strengthened control over guns and
bullets, explosives, poisons and other dangerous goods, and
completed a command and dispatch mechanism for rapid response that
features information sharing, high efficiency and
authoritativeness. With information about the registered
population, vehicles, official seals, hotels, guns, explosives and
financial outlets available online at computer terminals
nationwide, this mechanism, having at its core the command and
dispatch center and the alarm call service center, will work for
any alarm call, with police responding rapidly and smoothly.
It has been proven that strengthening administrative measures
related to public order is part of the solution to the public order
problem in China, and also helps to maintain good social order.
Currently, China is promoting the establishment of the crime
prevention and control mechanism nationwide, strengthening and
completing the working mechanism of comprehensive administration at
grassroots level so as to further prevent and deal with crime.