Netizens urged to show support for virtual cop site
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Following the success of its recently launched microblog, the city's Public Security Bureau wants online fans and critics to turn up for a real-world meeting later this month to talk about its Internet presence.
The bureau officially launched its microblog on Aug 1, along with other media services that include three blogs and a podcast. They are housed on the main Internet portals sina.com, sohu.com and 163.com as well as the video-sharing website ku6.com.
The new services were a major part of the bureau's recent attempts to improve its public relations.
The services, branded under the title "Safe Beijing", have a cartoon icon of a police officer and have seen a total of 3.67 million visits since Aug 1. They had received more than 15,000 comments by Monday. The microblog at sina.com alone has attracted more than 68,000 "fans" and the number is increasing by about 2,000 a day.
"The services are interactions between the police and the public," said Zhao Feng, an official with the information office at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. "The police deliver safety tips to the public as well as collect opinions and sentiments from the public."
The planned real-world meeting will be between police officers and about 10 netizens who will be invited from among the frequent users of the online services.
The bureau wants to hold the get-together to better introduce police work to the public and collect suggestions on how to improve services, said Zhao.
The meeting will also address specific and frequently mentioned appeals from the public as well as criticism from netizens.
Zhao said the invitations to participate will be sent to interested netizens, regardless of whether they have left positive or negative comments on the sites.
The bureau launched its second microblog at sohu.com on Sunday and it has already attracted more than 2,000 users.
The contents of the microblogs cover the broadcasting of public security information, safety tips, announcements for community services and information about police work. Clips of police stories and examples of routine work are available on "Safe Beijing" at ku6.com, sina.com, 163.com and sohu.com.
Controversial topics are not excluded from the official microblogs. Two hours after Fang Zhouzi, the well-known "science cop" who has campaigned against academic fraud, was attacked by two men, the police issued a notice about the investigation on its microblog.
The microblog even helped police save the life of a Jinan netizen in Shandong province who planned to broadcast her suicide on her microblog. The official microblog received a report from an alarmed netizen and officers managed to track down the woman and prevent the suicide, according to Qilu Evening News in Jinan, Shandong province.
However, the best way to report a case to officers is to call 110, China's emergency number, said Zhao.
Comments made by netizens on the content of the police microblogs vary greatly and range from radical criticism to sweet words of appreciation.
A netizen named "yimengwangran" wrote: "What can you do really, except utter some bureaucratic words?" after the police offered tips to middle school students on how to deal with physical threats.
Another netizen, named "panbubu", said: "The police did a good job!" after reading on the official microblog about how officers in Tongzhou district had rounded up a lost donkey that was on a busy road and returned it to its owner.
"We try our best to reply to comments from netizens," said Zhao. "If problems reported on the official microblogs are specific, like reversed traffic signs, police do off-line work to solve these problems."
More than 50 cases first reported by the public through the microblogs, including noisy nighttime construction and children begging, have been resolved in the past month. But Zhao said some cases mentioned on the microblog lack specific facts and cannot be acted upon.
"Whatever the comments are, the police have been adopting the basic principle that the team of eight policemen backing the microblog around the clock never delete a comment," Zhao said.
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