Victims of crime will be able totrack their investigations online

Victims of crime and their legal representatives will be able to check on the progress of their cases by going online or calling a new telephone hotline.

The changes will come into effect on March 1, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau announced on Wednesday.

"It's the first time for the bureau and the whole country that information about cases will be open to the public in such a way," said Fu Zhenhua, director of the bureau.

Victims involved in criminal and public security cases, their relatives and representatives will be able to check on the progress of their case through either the Internet, the telephone hotline, or by using touch-screen facilities at police stations, the bureau said.

Those involved in the cases will be able to find out about not only the progress of the case and the police officers involved but read appraisals of those officers' performance.

The plan will be implemented in three steps.

From Jan 1 to Feb 28, the plan will be in the preparation stage. From March 1 to June 30, the new system will be functional but available as a trial run. And from July 1, the information will be running city-wide.

The new system has been running as a pilot project in Xicheng branch.

Statistics show that 636 cases were made available during November.

Guo Boshun, deputy director of Xicheng branch, said: "The police will strictly protect the victims' privacy."

Guo said victims will be able to decide whether they want to follow their case online or not.

They will only be able to check on the file by using a special password that they set themselves. In addition, the information will not include specific details of the crime-solving process.

According to a Beijing News report, police stations and criminal investigation departments will take cases one by one and carefully look at them to see if they are appropriate to be included in the system.

Files will not be included if they involve national secrets, business secrets, privacy issues, minors or if they may impact social stability, such as cases involving forced demolition and claims for unpaid back pay.