The police authority has complained it is short of manpower in
the countryside, where disputes are reportedly more likely to turn
violent.
The claim came on the heels of a police announcement that more
than 30,000 new police stations had been set up in villages
nationwide and nearly 70,000 police had been deployed to rural
areas.
"Our major difficulty, at present, is the manpower shortage in
the vast rural areas, where we consider to be in urgent need of
police presence," said Bao Suixian, deputy head of the Public
Security Management Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security,
at a Tuesday press conference.
Bao said the ministry planned to establish police offices in
each of the 700,000 villages in China, home to nearly 900 million
people.
"To some extent, the country will be peaceful if the rural areas
are tranquil and stable," he said.
But according to the latest police statistics, violent crimes
were down in the first ten months of the year. Police investigated
nearly 3.75 million crime cases, down 1.1 percent from last year,
and solved 2.21 million of them.
Murder in the rural areas dropped 16.5 percent while rape was
down 8.2 percent from January to October. But the police did not
reveal the actual figures.
"A great number of disputes and unharmonious elements exist in
China. In the face of such pressure, it is impossible to rely
solely on the 1.8 million-strong police force to maintain
stability. Police forces need more manpower," Bao said.
Police officials said the number of murders and assaults
stemming from trivial disputes over marriage, family affairs or
paying debts has been rising steadily in recent years. Such
disputes accounted for the cause of nearly 36 percent of murders in
the first ten months.
(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2006)