Guangzhou streets to see armed cop patrols

Thousands more armed police will patrol the streets in a bid to beef up security in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, the local public security bureau announced Tuesday.

A security expert told the Global Times that seeing armed police patrols on the streets in China's big cities will become common in the wake of the Kunming terror attack on March 1, in which 29 people died.

Lu Feng, deputy-director of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, said that there will be around 11,000 more police officers involved in street patrols, 3,000 of whom will be armed. The extra patrols are due to start from May 1, according to the official website of Guangzhou government.

The reassigned officers include police special forces, plainclothes officers, security officers and auxiliary police force. All patrol police, except the auxiliary officers, will be armed, Lu said.

Police special forces will concentrate on crowded areas, those which pose security problems and crowded areas, Guangzhou Daily reported on Wednesday, citing Lu.

Compared with previous patrol deployment patterns, Lu said that the new patterns have more specific targets as well as better cooperation with video surveillance. There are no accurate figures as to how many officers are currently on the beat.

Authorities will also station tactical patrol teams in areas with heavy traffic and fixed checkpoints around the city.

Wang Hongwei, a professor with the School of Public Administration and Policy at the Renmin University of China, said that the Kunming attack will mean that residents will get used to seeing armed police on the streets in future.

"It's more normal to see armed police patrols now, and this will increase the ability to deal with emergencies by effectively cracking down on criminals while improving the practical training of the police force," said Wang.

After the Kunming attack, security checks and police powers were strengthened nationwide.