All city and district-level procuratorate departments in Beijing will conduct a survey of cases of significant injury and death of suspects in police detention, the Beijing People's Procuratorate said on Friday during the National People's Congress session.

The procuratorate departments are government organizations that deal with prosecution and investigation. It will be the first such survey or inquiry in China not conducted internally by the police.

Interviews with injured suspects, forensic medical examinations and on-site investigation will all be used in the survey, said Mu Ping, president of the Beijing People's Procuratorate.

After the death of an inmate in Yunnan province last year which local prison authorities claimed happened during a rough game of hide and seek, Beijing decided to pay more attention to supervising its detention system, according to Mu.

The survey is a considerable step in that direction, added Mu.

"The survey will only cover controversial or suspicious cases, not all cases," said Mu.

According to Mu, the city's procuratorate department has also enhanced its cooperation with the public security bureau and the judicial and administrative departments to jointly inspect alleged cases of "prison tyrants" or guards breaking the law.

"The 22 city detention houses will be equipped with 24-hour video and audio recording systems, which will be conducive to the investigation of suspect cases," Mu said.

According to Mu the city will also conduct risk assessment for criminal cases that either involve large numbers of people or spark public interest. The number of such cases has increased in recent years, said Mu.

"The procuratorate departments should consider the impact of potential outcomes of the case and then communicate with relevant departments to ensure social stability," said Mu.

"Conducting proper risk assessment means that we should be well-prepared for any possible problems related to a case and make plans to deal with each outcome," he said.

The procuratorates should make plans, for example, to deal with sentence appeals and media attention, he added.

Considering the potential impact of results a case, taking steps to make sure a case doesn't disrupt social stability and openly communicating with media can help avoid unnecessary problems said Mu.

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