NCJ Number
195182
Date Published
April 2002
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This report presents an overview of policing in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), with a focus on the public security police (PSP), which comprises 86 percent of the overall Chinese police service, with attention to crime prevention and victim assistance responsibilities and activities.
Abstract
The overview encompasses the organizational superstructure of the police service, particularly the structure of the Ministry of Public Security, within which the PSP is a component; and the functions and general operations of the PSP are described. Also, the laws and regulations that govern police duties and their powers are selectively examined. The prevention of political crimes and crimes of corruption are not addressed in this report, since they involve possible systemic issues within the central Chinese Communist Party government that goes well beyond the scope of an introduction to policing practices in crime prevention and victim assistance that directly impact the average Chinese citizen. Throughout the discussion, a few areas of concern and possible avenues for improvement in the PSP's interactions with suspects, victims, and the general public are highlighted. China has a growing crime problem that has been largely attributed to phenomena associated with its modernization. Crime prevention and policing policies have not addressed the particular causes of this crime escalation, nor the needs of the increasing number of victims. Whereas crime prevention in the United States has moved increasingly toward strategies that emphasize community policing and volunteer neighborhood participation, the trend in the PRC is apparently toward depersonalized, extralegal forms of control. More attention to victims' rights, while no panacea to crime, can be an effective strategy for improving the professional image of the police and bolstering volunteer citizen involvement in crime prevention activities, not to mention the civil benefits of crime victims being extended governmental assistance directly from the PSP while being treated with respect. 236 notes and 44 references