Shanghai Metro 'safer than ever' according to city police

Ti Gong

The number of theft cases reported by Metro passengers has dropped sharply from previous years, with all reported cases solved, Shanghai police said on Tuesday.

The Shanghai Metro, according to the police, is now at its safest time ever.

A total of 47 suspects have been caught in Metro theft cases so far this year, police said.

A man surnamed Ji reported to the police at Sheshan Station on Metro Line 9 on the evening of August 27 that he had discovered his two mobile phones were missing from his backpack after getting on a train at the station that morning.

Police soon identified the suspect, a 62-year-old man surnamed Zhu. Zhu was caught on September 1 as he entered the station and has been detained.

A woman surnamed Shi, who is a staffer at Jinji Road Station on Line 9, reported to the police on the evening of August 30 that her mobile phone was likely stolen while she was working.

A 51-year-old man surnamed Lu was soon identified as the suspect of the theft. Lu was caught and has confessed.

In both cases, the lost phones have been recovered, as police vowed to try their best to recover the lost items of theft victims.

A man surnamed Li reported to the police on June 9 that his mobile phone was stolen at the Century Avenue Station on Line 2. A 42-year-old man surnamed Zhao was caught as the suspect. Police tracked down Li's phone to a mobile phone shop in suburban Pudong to which Zhao sold it as well as two other stolen phones. All three phones have been returned to their owners.

Items and cash totaling 168,000 yuan (US$26,000) in value have been returned to their owners in Metro theft cases so far this year, police said.

Lost and found

Still, 80 to 90 percent of the theft cases reported to the police were misunderstandings in which the passengers left their belongings on the trains which were then picked up by other people, according to the police.

In such cases, the police also strive to recover passengers' lost objects.

A woman surnamed Shangguan reported to the police on August 3 that she lost a gift box with objects and cash totaling 1,500 yuan inside. It took the police 10 days to find the male passenger who took the gift box. The box was returned to the passenger.

If an initial investigation shows that objects reported as stolen were simply lost, the police will contact the Metro operator to see if the lost objects have been turned in to them. If not, the police will try to track the objects down.

Pan Haosong, a police officer who is experienced in combating pickpocketing crimes in Metro stations, said "where there is a will, all lost things can be found." Such was with the case of a woman who reported that she lost a very expensive necklace in a Metro station.

Compared with bags and purses, necklaces are especially hard to track down because they're hard to spot on surveillance cameras, Pan said.

"We looked carefully at camera footage and finally caught the moment when a shiny object slipped through her clothes, and then a cleaning lady picked it up," he said.

The cleaning lady was approached by the police and returned the necklace to the woman.

So far this year, Metro police have recovered 313 lost objects for passengers.

People who have found lost objects in Metro stations can turn in them to staff members. Shanghai Metro has a lost and found system for passengers' benefit.