Case-handling centers aim to protect suspects, standardize procedures
Beijing police on Monday announced a plan to build more case-handling centers with 24-hour video surveillance in order to advance the protection of suspects' rights.
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau is promoting the model developed at a pilot center at its sub-bureau in Haidian district, which applies standardized procedures and comprehensive monitoring to the investigation of all criminal cases, according to a news release that the bureau sent to the Global Times on Monday.
The Haidian district's 5,000 square meter case-handling center provides a total of 31 rooms for the detention and questioning of suspects. The rooms where suspects wait for interrogation are also specially furnished to prevent suspects from injuring themselves, according to the release.
Suspects who are brought to the case-handling center will receive black wristbands with a unique code allowing suspects to be tracked inside the center. They also help police officers ensure that areas around suspects are monitored with surveillance video.
Zhang Jiabin, the director of the case-handling center, said that the entire interrogation process is monitored by the center, and any police officers who violate regulations during interrogation will be rapidly spotted and corrected, according to the release.
Previous practices only required police officers to make video records of interactions with suspects after approval was given for their detention, whereas the whole process of a suspect's interaction with police will now be under supervision, including the first 24 hours before a suspect's detention, Zhang said.
The director stressed that the new measures will ensure the legitimacy of police investigations.
A professor surnamed Liu from the People's Public Security University of China told the Global Times on Monday that the promotion of such centers in Beijing aims to standardize law enforcement processing practices and enhance their transparency.
"This is a good way to protect suspects' rights and dispel public doubts about police brutality," said Liu, adding that news about law enforcement violence tarnishes the image of the police and hinders their efforts to fight crime.
Zhang Chengjun - a resident of Neijiang, Southwest China's Sichuan Province who was suspected of theft - died during interrogation in December 2015. The police claimed he suffered a sudden bout of illness that caused him to act erratically, reported mobile news app Shangyou.
Though police have investigated 3,670 suspects at the center since the program was put into operation in October, no accidents or complaints have been reported, according to the release.
While chairing a meeting on May 21, Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun asked police at all levels to rectify and eliminate any unregulated, unjust and uncivilized conduct by meting out serious punishment to any police officer who violates the law or regulations.
