Roles of Chinese Police Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article provides an overview of frontier issues of policing in China by examining the roles of police during the pandemic. It starts with a short introduction to the challenges and overall performance of China in keeping social order in the context of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Then, it outlines four major missions the Chinese police have pursued, each with a sketch of what has been done and how law enforcement officials have managed to achieve their goals. It follows with a further insight into their strategies in social control in connection with the latest reforms on policing. Finally, it concludes briefly with features of Chinese policing.

Police Discretion and Restorative Justice in China: Stories from the Street-level Police

Based on ethnographic data collected from one local police station in China, this article attempts to examine the use of discretion by Chinese police in three different restorative justice (RJ) programs. With reference to Wilson’s organizational style of policing, the hybridity of watch-man, legalistic and service style in Chinese policing is identified, which can help conceptualize how police decision over mediation work has been institutionally co-shaped. This article also deploys Lipsky’s street-level bureaucracy with specific focuses on how the police select cases and facilitate an agreement between stakeholders. Coping strategies defined by Lipsky are found to be employed by the police to confront their huge workload and complicated cases. Overall, RJ in China is primarily promoted as universal top-down national reforms; meanwhile, police discretion, catalyzed by bureaucratic rationalities and the political imperative of social order and stability, is conducive to both the divergence and convergence between RJ in law-books and in action.

Institutional procedural justice and street procedural justice in Chinese policing: The mediating role of moral alignment

Although the process-based model of policing has been widely tested, research on how procedural justice works within police agencies, particularly its impact on officer willingness to engage in procedurally fair behavior on the street, is relatively scant. Based on survey data collected from Chinese police officers, this study assessed the linkages between internal procedural justice and external procedural justice through the mechanisms of moral alignment with both supervisors and citizens and perceived citizen trustworthiness. Greater internal procedural justice was directly related to higher external procedural justice. Fair supervision helped build up moral alignment between officers and supervisors and between officers and citizens, which in turn led to stronger commitment to fair treatment of the public. Internal procedural justice and moral alignment with citizens also cultivated officers’ perceptions of public trustworthiness, which further strengthened officers’ fair treatment toward the public.

An exploratory study of police cynicism in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure police cynicism in China. Design/methodology/approach – Using survey data collected from 382 Chinese police officers training in a Chinese police university, this research empirically described police cynicism and examined the effects of some police subcultural themes (crime fighting role orientation, traditionalism, solidarity, and isolation) and some demographic and work-related variables (gender, education experience, type of police force, and tenure) on police cynicism. Findings – Results suggest that most participants are not cynical. However, they seem to have less confidence in the trust and respect that citizens have for the police. Slightly more officers stated that they do not think that citizens will trust police to cooperate. Crime-fighting role orientation and isolation had significant positive associations with police cynicism. Officers with five to ten years of service were more cynical than were new officers and more tenured officers. Originality/value – This study is one of the first empirical attempts in Chinese policing. It extends the understanding on police perceptions in China. The findings may provide useful implications for Chinese police administrators and instructors to promote the successful implementation of community policing in China.

Research on policing in East Asia: a review of SSCI policing specialty journals

Purpose – Little information on dissemination of publications on policing issues in East Asia in which one-fifth of the world's population lives is available. The research questions for the paper are: how extensive is the coverage of papers focussing on policing in East Asia; on which East Asian countries have the papers covered during the 14-year period from 2000 to 2013; what are the topics/primary issues of policing in East Asia covered across the journals; and what are the affiliations represented of authors who have published papers on policing in East Asia. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study is a content analysis of major policing specialty journals listed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) in terms of the number and focus of studies on East Asian police papers. Data came from 1,123 papers published in three policing journals of Police Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, and Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy during the period of 2000-2013. Findings – Only 3.4 percent (n=38) of the 1,123 articles published in the three journals were on policing issues in East Asia nations. The vast majority (76.3 percent) were published in Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management. Staff issue was the most frequently researched topic. In total, 42 percent of the papers were on South Korean policing issues, followed by 31 percent on Chinese policing topics. Finally, about 45 percent of the papers were written by only US-affiliated authors, 40 percent by authors affiliated with institutions in East Asia, and only 16 percent were written in collaboration between authors associated with USA and East Asian institutions. Originality/value – The main intent of this study is to provide information seekers with a guide to what research on policing in East Asia is being published.