Police show human side of the force

Beijing police chiefs have reported significant progress in efforts to boost public safety in the capital by improving criminal investigation techniques and regulating the behavior of officers.

The city introduced 254 guidelines last year, including on evidence collection, interrogations and overall supervision of its 50,000 or so police officers, as China pushes forward the rule of law nationwide.

In particular, officers handling major crimes - homicide, sexual assault and human trafficking - were told to switch focus from securing verbal confessions to finding physical evidence.