A police officer from the anti-drug squadron of Chaoyang District’s Public Security Bureau tells public security volunteers how to recognize drugs (CFP)

For quite some time, the identities of the informants behind celebrity drug stories have mystified Beijing's residents. News stories in local papers about such cases often begin with the phrase: "According to reports by Chaoyang people." Oftentimes, readers cannot help wondering who those informants are.

Chaoyang, the largest district in Beijing, is home to the city's Central Business District and the main venues of the 1990 Asian Games and the 2008 Olympic Games. It is also famed for the glamorous high-end residential areas and golf courses, and the Sanlitun Sub-District's numerous bars and nightclubs. Many movie stars have chosen to reside in this district, which also houses most of the foreign embassies in China.

Celebrities caught taking drugs in the district include the famous film director Zhang Yuan and Jaycee Chan, the son of the kungfu star, Jackie Chan.

Who are these informers that have been in contact with celebrities? Curious netizens eventually found out that those keeping the police informed are actually public security volunteers active in a variety of Beijing's communities.

Insiders disclosed that in 2015, public security volunteers in the district, nicknamed "Chaoyang people," provided more than 210,000 pieces of information to the police, including 851 tips about drug-taking and drug-trafficking. Most tips are about crimes committed by ordinary people, while those involving celebrities went to the news and caught the public's attention.

Some netizens make jokes about these volunteers, calling them the world's fifth largest intelligence force, after the United States' CIA, former Soviet Union's KGB, Israel's MOSSAD, and the UK's Military Intelligence 6.

In Chaoyang, public security volunteers are omnipresent. They come in various forms: neighbors wearing red armbands, square dancers, elderly men and women doing grocery shopping, or security guards working at the parking lots of department stores or supermarkets. They can also be entertainment industry employees or students.

As of November 2015, Chaoyang had 130,000 registered public security volunteers. These volunteers, still growing in number, are the unsung heroes protecting residents in Chaoyang and other parts of Beijing through their vigilance. They report any abnormal objects or activities to the police, including traffic violations, thefts, drug-related crimes, prostitution, robberies and murders.

Sun Meixia is such a volunteer registered with the Beisanli Community of the Sanlitun Sub-District. She is very proud of her role. "To safeguard the safety of our community, we are highly alert," she said. Her daily job is mainly to patrol the neighborhood, usually for two hours at a time in the morning and the afternoon. During major holidays and events such as the National Day holiday, she patrols for longer periods. In the Beisanli Community, there are more than 100 volunteers like Sun.

Police-public partnership 

A cartoon featuring a policeman giving a thumbs-up to public security volunteers in Chaoyang was posted on the official micro-blog of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Public security volunteers are successful examples of public participation in public security management, said Zhou Xiaoping, a well-known news commentator in an article published on Cpd.com.cn, a police website.

Now, "Chaoyang people" has become an Internet buzzword. When used in news stories about the police and crimes, the phrase brings a touch of humor, lubricating the relations between the police and the general public.

The official micro-blog of Beijing's police has a post saying that the police will protect the privacy of "Chaoyang people" and welcome residents to tip off the police about various safety hazards.

On June 26, 2015, International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a message was posted on the police micro-blog, instructing people how to keep the police informed.

"There are more than 100 registered public security volunteers in our community, while in reality, every resident can help us prevent crime," said Wang Yang, a police officer stationed in Nongzhannanli Community in Chaoyang.

Yu Xiaohui, a volunteer in the community said that if volunteers detect any suspicious activity, they could call a hotline, after which the police would arrive within 10 minutes.

Yu has resided in the community, which houses nearly 10,000 residents, for 32 years. She said that the community has maintained a record of zero-crimes for 12 years in a row, even though only two police officers are stationed there.

The Panjiayuan Community in the district, located in the southeast of the city and adjacent to a large flea market of antiques or antique-looking stuff and a hospital for treating cancers, is known for its huge volume of traffic and flow of people. Every month, police stationed in the community host a meeting with public security volunteers, briefing them about recent high-incidence crime cases and the main aspects of crime prevention. Volunteers can also update police about a variety of situations concerning new tenants, new types of fraudulent instant messages sent to their cellphones, clashes between neighbors, and etc.

Public security volunteers are not only active in Chaoyang, but in other districts as well. Beijing has more than 850,000 public security volunteers, said Yan Mancheng, Deputy Party Chief of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Political Science and Law, at a meeting held on December 18, 2015.

"To some extent, the crime-prevention net weaved by the public security volunteers is a strong complementing force to the police, and has played a very big role in maintaining social order in the capital," said Hong Daode, a professor with China University of Political Science and Law.

Beijing's crime prevention model has been copied in other parts of China. Baotou, a city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has mobilized 50,000 public security volunteers, including social workers, security guards and bus and taxi drivers, to prevent crime.

A police officer in Baotou told local media that the volunteers are like his eyes and ears, helping him gain a deeper understanding of the community.

Rewarding informants 

On February 5, a security guard received an award of 50,000 yuan ($7,670.7) from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for directing the police's attention toward a crime.

Shortly before that day, the security guard had spotted a man carrying hazardous materials trying to pry open the door of a hotel in Beijing's Xicheng District. The guard called the police, which soon arrived and apprehended the 47-year-old suspect Zhang. The native of Hebei Province had allegedly prepared to take extreme actions, jeopardizing public security in order to take revenge for a personal dispute. Zhang was later taken into police custody.

A police executive in charge of anti-terrorist work in the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said that the award was doled out according to China's Anti-terrorism Law that went into force in January, and the bureau's document on rewarding the public for reporting clues about terrorist activities.

The Anti-terrorism Law stipulates that any organization or individual has the obligation to report terrorist activities, and should be rewarded accordingly.

In fact, from as early as March 2014, Beijing has released a notice on rewarding those for reporting terrorism activities. In September of the same year, the city also published a rule on rewarding people for reporting drug-related crimes. So far, Beijing's police have awarded more than 500 residents who have successfully tipped off the police.

Most residents do not help the police for money. "I didn't do it for a reward. I did it for [my] safety," an 80-year-old resident in Chaoyang was reported saying.

She observed that her new neighbor had an odd schedule and that his home was often noisy at night, which made her feel uncomfortable, so she told the police about her findings. It turned out that the man was an escaped prisoner, and the police subsequently arrested him.

To encourage more citizens to help the police, more work should be done, said news commentator Wang Qing. Wang said that protecting informants and timely investigation of reported cases will motivate more people to tip off the police.

Copyedited by Bryan Michael Galvan

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