Poor traffic management causes police officer's death

People lay down flowers during a memorial ceremony in memory of the traffic policeman who was killed in Shanghai's Minhang district after the driver of a BMW SUV knocked him down and drove off from the scene. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Wednesday, while trying to stop an SUV that had made an illegal turn, a traffic policeman in Shanghai was dragged by the car for 10 meters and killed. Comments:

As a response to the tragedy, several deputies to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, have proposed adding the crime of "assaulting a police officer" into China's criminal code. This is a reasonable motion and might better protect police officers performing their duties. The problem is, there are many law enforcers other than the police in China, such as urban management officials, or chengguan, and do they need special protection, too? More discussions are needed on this issue.

Beijing Times, March 14

Increasingly more car owners have installed cameras on their automobiles. Is it possible to encourage them to record other drivers' illegal deeds and submit the evidence to the police? That will not only be more efficient, but can also protect traffic police officers from the danger of mad drivers.

Liu Liu, novelist, via Sina micro blog, March 13

The suspect said the police officer "bullied" him because many people did the same wrong but only he was stopped, and the day after the tragedy, journalists found many drivers still illegally turned left at that spot, committing the same misdeed. A society is hell in which everybody acts illegally and feels it unjust when being caught by the police. The authorities need to enforce the law more strictly to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

hsw.cn, March 14

The driver has been detained, but the judicial process concerning him has not begun yet. However, media outlets nationwide have already been digging deeply into his background, with some of them accusing him of previous wrongs. Will that affect the coming court ruling? Those advocating judicial reform say judges need to exercise the assumption of innocence; but that applies to the whole society.

Xie Xiangying, a criminal defense lawyer, March 14