Legal aid for Shenzhen police officers

By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-25 07:45

SHENZHEN - Qiu Jian was subjected to humiliation in the first two years of his 10 years as a traffic policeman in this southern city. Today, he is used to it.

"When I first started on the beat, some drivers involved in accidents would abuse me, thinking I was siding with the victims because of personal relationships.

"I would have nightmares over it," Qiu said.

He said normally if no serious harm was caused and offenders apologized, no action would be taken.

The Shenzhen public security bureau said since 2004 some 519 police officers have been attacked while on duty, resulting in two deaths and 376 serious injuries.

"Most were officers working at community police stations, directing traffic or on the beat," Wang Xiaonan, deputy director on protecting the legal rights of police officers of the Shenzhen police department, said yesterday.

Besides violence, the policemen also have to face baseless complaints, frame-ups and insults, he said.

To better protect the legal rights of policemen, Shenzhen police have commissioned China Commercial Law Co, one of the largest law firms in city, to set up a legal aid center.

It is the second center of its kind on the mainland after Shanghai, Wang said.

The firm will provide 20 lawyers free of charge to advise policemen on their legal rights and how to present evidence in court.

The Shenzhen police force is the first in the country to set up a complete system to help its officers.

It includes psychological counseling, legal aid, rewards and clarification certificates for those slandered or have received unfair treatment, Wang said.

"Police officers are law enforcement people, but we are vulnerable too," he said.

About 20,000 officers are serving a city with a population of nearly 12 million.

Gao Shu, supervisor of China Commercial Law Co, said: "Being a police officer is a high-risk profession. They can be victims too in the course of law enforcement. As an independent third party, we provide an open and fair legal service to protect their interests.