OPINION> Commentary
Police should be more active
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-06 07:42

In a homicide case in Guizhou province, the murderer was caught by ordinary people, while the local police failed to do so. This shows the lack of responsibility on the part of the police, says an article in Yanzhao Evening Post. The following is an excerpt:

On August 8, 2007, Dai Yuntian was murdered in Shuicheng county, Guizhou province. Dissatisfied with the slow reaction of the local police, Dai's five half-brothers vowed to track down the murderer all by themselves.

In the following year, they rode a motorcycle for more than 10,000 kilometers, and finally caught the murderer. But the local police chief said this action is actually illegal.

In fact, these five brothers didn't volunteer to do it but were forced to do it out of their disappointment with the police. The police arrived at the murder scene 12 hours after they received the report of the discovery of Dai's corpse.

They later conducted an autopsy without informing Dai's relatives beforehand, leaving their family members unable to have a last look at Dai's complete body.

Moreover, they were three hours late in catching the suspect after Dai's brothers found the trace of the murderer. So, we can see the police were slow to react and finally disappointed the family of the dead.

The only reason for their failure to catch the murderer is their lack of a sense of responsibility. If the police could shoulder their duties, Dai's brothers would not have bothered to take the job of the police into their own hands. Therefore, what Dai's brothers did shouldn't be simply dismissed by the local police as an illegal act. Instead, the police should feel ashamed of their inability to catch the criminal.

(China Daily 11/06/2008 page10)