Since 1991, the National Bureau of Statistics released nine times to the public the comprehensive evaluation results of Chinese domestic regional social development level. The social security composite index of Tianjin has ranked the first among provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China, making Tianjin the safest city in China. In the “2008 Happiest City in China (Chinese Mainland) Campaign” launched by Oriental Outlook Weekly and other media, Tianjin has been rated as “the happiest city”, and the city also boasts China’s highest sense of security felt by the citizens. In 2008, the rate of positive attitudes of urban and rural residents in Tianjin towards the social order, and that towards security departments and police, were even higher than the 89 percent and 92 percent respectively in 2007, which suggests that there is a further increase in the local residents’ satisfaction and feeling of security about the city.
During recent years, Tianjin’s public security departments have organized and implemented a series of special actions, including “Anti-Robbery and Anti-Theft Campaign”, “Homicide Investigation”, “Anti-Organized-Crime Campaign”, “Hunting Criminals on the Internet”, “Anti-Illicit-Drugs and Anti-Gambling Campaign”, and so on and so forth. They also timely organize large-scale, multi-facet, round-the-clock security patrols. More than 10,000 civilian policemen take to the streets and strengthen the security of busy areas, high-risk areas and priority areas. More than 700 armed plainclothes squads patrolled around the city around the clock, effectively deterring the criminals and hence enjoying the reputation of “patron saint” of public security.
Since 2008, all levels of public security departments in Tianjin have cracked 46,800 criminal cases, among which 1,683 were illegal and criminal activities in the economic arena, retrieving a loss of 770 million yuan. Meanwhile, more importance has been attached to traffic, fire safety management. As a result, casualties and economic losses caused by traffic accidents and fires have decreased significantly compared with that in the same period last year.
Tianjin public security departments vigorously promote and develop the prevention and control system for social security by improving “Police Defense Network, the Civil Defense Network, and Technology Defense Network”. Based on the principle of “sending police forces to the grass root level”, they divide scientifically the patrol areas, as well as continuously adjust and enrich the frontline police forces. Along with strengthening police forces, Tianjin enriches the network of civil defense and governance. Reception rooms of more than 10,000 enterprises and institutions have been transformed to security rooms, with total civil defense forces reaching more than 240,000 people. Regarding the establishment of technology defense facilities, Tianjin has installed 160,000 video surveillance probes and develops 16,000 users of “GSM-GPS vehicle alarm system”. All these efforts and facilities have been playing an important role in preventing and combating crimes.
Tianjin has also encouraged behaviors of bravery and promoted social justice, making behaviors of bravery a unique feature of Tianjin. In 2007, Tianjin government has commended and awarded 1,823 behaviors of bravery, among which 57 individuals and 11 organizations were awarded with the Municipal Honorary Title for Bravery by Tianjin Municipal People’s Government. Four people were awarded with National Honorary Title, and 1 was honored as Martyr. Through this campaign, more than 1,172 criminals have been captured, 2,174 cases of various kinds cracked, among which 1,606 were criminal cases, 14,725,000 yuan retrieved, and 157 people saved.
