Police to slash assistant numbers but enhance quality
An assistant traffic police officer directs traffic in Shanghai on November 29, 2016.
Shanghai police said on Tuesday that they will recruit 7,887 assistant patrol police officers in the next three years, the first 2,592 of whom will begin working by May next year.
The newly recruited police assistants will gradually replace the current 16,000 assistants who work with traffic police officers and their colleagues on patrol jobs.
The current assistants were recruited from security companies, and their qualifications, salaries and training standards vary from district to district, while the new recruitment cycle will feature universal standards.
According to police, the new-coming assistants are required to have Shanghai hukou (residence permits), at least a college degree, and be under 36 years of age at the time of application for the job. Applicants with criminal records or serious negative track records of personal credit, those who have been fired from previous jobs for disciplinary problems or other violations, and those with family members who have criminal records won’t be eligible to apply.
“Our goal is to standardize the employment and management of police assistants so that with fewer assistants we can provide better services,” said Shi Min, an official in charge of police assistants at Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
The average monthly salary of the new assistants will be 6,700 yuan (US$960) before tax, which means net income of about 5,500 yuan. According to Shi, a large number of police assistants currently receive monthly net income of 3,000 to 4,000 yuan.
The future police assistants will be expected to perform various tasks in assisting roles to police officers in the prevention and halting of crimes, inspecting different venues for violations and crimes, keeping order at crime or emergency scenes, helping injured people, as well as traffic management.
Current assistants who are qualified can apply for the job, and all newly recruited assistants will for the first time be able to become police officers in the future.
One-tenth of the first 2,592 assistant patrol police officers will be women, police said.
