Police officer who threw woman and child to the ground disciplined

The police officer who threw a woman and a child to the ground while enforcing the law in an illegal parking case on Friday morning has been disciplined, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau said in a statement on Saturday.

The police officer, surnamed Zhu, was given a punishment based on a “serious offense” which, according to China’s Law on Public Servants, means that he won’t be able to be promoted or have a salary increase in the next 18 months.

Shanghai police said the decision was made according to the rulebook for police which foresees such punishments to police officers who “hold a bad attitude towards the people, behave rudely or violently, deliberately create difficulties for the people, or ask for bribery.”

Meanwhile, the woman thrown to the ground, surnamed Zhang, was given a warning for impeding law enforcement of the police.

Songjiang police apologized to the child’s mother on Saturday morning and asked her to inform them of any physical problems with the child, although the child’s mother said both Zhang and the toddler were okay, according to the statement.

In the statement, police also revealed more details of the incident which took place about 200 meters east to the crossroads of Laifang Road and Jiudu Road in Songjiang District.

After Zhu ticketed the car which Zhang drove for illegal parking, Zhang tore the ticket down from her car and started to argue with him, according to the statement.

Zhu told her that she could seek an administrative review of the ticket if she didn’t agree, but just when he was heading back to the police car Zhang came up and held on to the car, intending to stop him and a police assistant from leaving.

Zhu then got out and warned her not to impede the police but was ignored, and when Zhang pushed him for the third time, Zhu reacted and threw her and the toddler in her arms to the ground, according to the statement.

“The police officer overreacted in this case and failed to take into account the safety of the child in Zhang’s arms,” said the statement. “His behavior, which wouldn’t be considered as reasonable, led to negative public perceptions [of the police].”

Shanghai police again vowed to enhance law enforcement education for all police officers in view of this case, which showed that “some police officers are not well aware of protecting children and upholding standards of law enforcement in complex situations.”