Patrolmen armed with revolvers

Officers check their revolvers before going on a patrol. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Two officers from the Jiangsu Road police station patrol carrying their side arms Sunday. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

More than 1,000 city police officers have begun patrolling the streets with firearms, local media reported Sunday.

Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau official Rui Minghua said arming patrolmen shows the public security bureau is serious about keeping the public safe, according to a report in the Xinmin Evening News.

The report said that patrol officers are often first on the scene when a crime takes place, so it is necessary for them to be armed.

The report linked the measure to last month's attack in Kunming, Yunnan Province, where eight knife-wielding attackers killed 29 people at a train station.

The 1,000 officers make up the first group of patrolmen in the city who will be armed with the 9 mm revolvers, which were designed specifically for police in China, the report said. The weapon can hold six live rounds or rubber bullets. It has a range of 50 meters.

The report said the weapon is difficult to fire accidently and rarely jams.

The public security bureau allows the armed patrolmen to use their guns in 15 situations, including when residents are threatened by people with weapons, explosives or toxic substances, the report said.

The patrolmen are also allowed to use deadly force against hijackers or saboteurs of military, utility or transportation facilities, the report said.

Still, the patrolmen need to report every time they draw their weapons, even if they don't fire a shot.

All of the armed officers must undergo special political and psychological training before they are issued one of the revolvers. As for firearm training, an officer has to be able to recognize a threat and fire six shots at a target from cover, with at least three of the shots hitting the target.

The district public security bureaus will maintain an archive of each officer's psychological record. If a bureau finds an armed officer is suffering an emotional problem, a team of five psychologists will immediately intervene, the report said.