Editorials

Before you cry for Wei Lei

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-01 07:48

When thieves fatally stabbed Wei Lei, the vigilante leader of volunteers crusading against pickpockets in Guangdong province, public indignation rang out. True, the man deserves admiration and respect for his bravery, and thieves must be brought to justice, but there is more to the story.

Wei Lei was once jailed for seven months for beating a pickpocket. Members of his team of volunteers admitted that they would give thieves a good thrashing. There are other examples, but what they essentially did was taking the law into their hands and that's illegal in any country.

The line is very thin between what is legal and illegal when it comes to the way organizations catch and subdue pickpockets. They should not go beyond reporting and sending the thieves to police. We should never justify the means with the ends, nor allow any ordinary person with a sense of justice to enforce the law.

The existence of voluntary organizations should be well managed and closely monitored. If necessary, these individuals should be trained to function only as an auxiliary to the police.

A lack of public safety or order is usually caused by the dereliction of duty or corruption on the part of the local police. It likely won't be necessary for the existence of these voluntary teams had the local police done a better job in cracking down on thieves. There have been reports that some police officers get booty from pickpockets in return for protection.

Though it's good for these volunteers to have a strong sense of justice, it's worrisome that many of them are playing the roles of police officers.

(China Daily 04/01/2010 page8)