Metro pickpocketing cases down 70%
A Metro police officer wears a "smart" helmet while on patrol at a Metro station.
The number of pickpocketing cases reported by Metro passengers fell 70 percent last year from the previous year, Shanghai police said on Tuesday.
The number of complaints related to begging, advertising leaflet distribution and selling on Metro trains and in Metro stations was down 17.8 percent.
Metro police said they had stepped up patrols with Metro staff. Reports of begging and distribution of advertisements were down 17 and 31 percent respectively last year, they said.
Last year, a team of 100 officers was formed to carry out security checks on Metro passengers. They wore “smart” helmets which transmitted videos to a command center and could identify fugitives and suspects.
Police officers had also started to ride on trains more.
The team carried out about 680 checks last year, covering all 415 Metro stations, and a number of fugitives and suspects were caught, police said.
On January 1, a passenger reported to the police that her mobile phone had been stolen as she was taking a train on Metro Line 10. Two suspects were caught no more than 90 minutes later.
Metro police also seized about 34,000 banned items last year, mostly fireworks and firecrackers, gasoline and alcohol.
An average of 12 million people take the Metro in Shanghai every day during the working week, accounting for 65 percent of all traffic in the public transport system.
A camera captures images of a woman suspected of stealing a mobile phone from a Metro passenger.
Undercover officers lead a suspect from a Metro station after reports of a mobile phone being stolen.
