Watchdog officers abused power during COVID inspection
A screenshot from the surveillance footage shows three market watchdog officers inspecting a milk tea shop in Zhaoxian County, Heilongjiang Province, on November 10, 2022.
Three market watchdog officers in a north China county have been punished after they deliberately picked on a milk tea shop, blaming its employee for not saying "scan your health codes" immediately on greeting them during an undercover inspection.
Three officers of the market supervision and management bureau of Zhaoxian County in Heilongjiang Province inspected a milk tea shop for its pandemic control measures on November 10, the county government said in an announcement yesterday.
An employee greeted the three undercover officers by saying: "Welcome to our shop. Scan your health codes please."
But the law enforcement officers criticized her for not telling them to scan their health codes first, and shut down the shop for one day under the pretense of "not strictly following rules of checking customers' health codes."
The officers deliberately placed obstacles for the eatery, abused their power and carried out their duties in a rude manner, seriously tarnishing the authority of the market watchdog, the government said.
An officer surnamed Wang was given a warning and removed from the inspection team, while the other two were criticized. The director of the county market watchdog was given an admonishing talk.
The county government said it will strengthen the management of the law enforcement team and improve their skills in performing their duties.
Wang has apologized to the milk tea shop owner, it said.
