A senior Chinese police official said 409 policemen lost their
lives and 4,078 were injured in operations to protect the interests
of the state and people in 2005.
"In 2005, Chinese public security organs cracked more than 2
million criminal cases and handled more than 5.3 million public
order disturbances," said Zhu Chunlin, head of the discipline
supervision department of the Ministry of Public Security.
At a meeting with specially invited external supervisors of the
police force, Zhu said the 1.7 million policemen of the country
have made selfless contributions to social stability at the risk of
their lives.
He acknowledged that there were also black sheep within the
police force.
"Initial statistics show 436 police officials were punished for
corrupt behaviors and 353 policemen were removed from the police
force in 2005," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2006)