Beijing authorities will mobilize 810,000 non-police forces to
patrol in residential communities and streets as an extra security
measure during the upcoming China-Africa forum.
The non-police forces will include people from almost all walks
of life, such as government officials, retired people, security
guards, parking lot fee collectors, migrant workers, business
people from outside the capital and various other volunteers, said
a spokesman with the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
An association of volunteers for capital security patrol has
been set up, and different tasks allocated to different people at
various times of day, the spokesman said.
All the volunteers will wear a red armband, he said.
This is not the first time that Beijing police have used
volunteers to reinforce security when a major event takes place in
the Chinese capital.
More than 40 African countries will attend the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation slated for Nov. 3-5.
(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2006)