Public security bureau (China)
A public security bureau of a city or county, or public security department in a province or autonomous region of the People's Republic of China is a generic term for a police department.
Duties
According to the State Council, the official duties of public security bureaus are:- Preventing, stopping and investigating criminal activities
- Preventing and responding to terrorism
- Protecting public order and safety
- Managing Traffic, firefighting and dangerous goods
- Managing hukou and immigration
- Border protection
- Protection of VIPs and important locations
- Managing protests
- Prevention of cybercrime
Organization
Public security bureaus and public security departments act as the main civilian police agency of their city or province, respectively. Under public security bureaus are police stations.The chief of a provincial public security department is also typically a deputy provincial governor.
The system of public security bureaus is administered by the Ministry of Public Security, which co-ordinates the work of provincial public security departments that are also answerable to the local governments and provincial party secretaries.
Each province/autonomous region has a public security department, while each municipality has a public security bureau. Counties and county level cities also have smaller PSBs. Districts have branches, also known as subbureaus, in contrast to counties and county level cities.
The PSB system does not apply to the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong, as they have their own police forces, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Public Security Police Force of Macau, respectively.
Internal organization
Units of a PSB vary from agency to agency, though most bureaus have a traffic police unit, a SWAT unit, a crime investigation unit, a legal affairs unit, a food safety and environmental crime unit, a detention center/jail and a public order unit, though functions of each unit also vary, For example, in the Daishan County PSB, the Public Order unit is also in charge of food safety, while in the Shenzhen Municipal PSB there is a separate unit for Food Safety and environmental crime.Some PSB's also operate overseas service stations.
Specialized Public Security Bureaus
Railway Public Security Bureaus
The operates a Railway Public Security Bureau in all 18 Passenger groups of the China Railway. Under Railway Public Security Bureaus are Railway Public Security Divisions, which are in every Hub station. Train stations have their own police stations, including the Mainland Port Area in Hong Kong West Kowloon station.The main crimes handled by Railway Public Security Bureaus are seat hogging, sexual harassment and petty theft, though they are responsible for handling all crime occurring on railroads in their jurisdiction.
Railway Public Security Divisions often operate railway SWAT teams.
Forest Public Security Bureaus
Provincial Public Security Departments also operate, who are in charge of law enforcement in forests of their respective provinces; Many municipal PSBs also operate their own municipal Forestry PSBs. The main crimes handled include illegal logging, illegal fishing, poaching and environmental crime. They are also in charge of search and rescue, environmental protection and wildfire suppression in their jurisdiction.Until recently, provincial forest PSBs were under the provincial Forestry Department, though in recent years Forest Public Security Bureaus have begun to be transferred over to be handed over to the provincial public security department, the first being the Hainan Provincial Forest Public Security Bureau being transferred to the in December 2018, with other provinces following in the 2020s.
Relations with other agencies
Ministry of State Security
The network of public security bureaus and the Ministry of Public Security should not be confused with the separate but parallel networks of state security bureaus/state security departments, administered at the national level by the Ministry of State Security.The MSS is responsible for external and internal intelligence, and performing a "secret police" or security police role responsible for preemptive response to 'mass incidents' and internal security.
The two systems are administratively separate, although at local levels they co-operate to a large extent and often share resources and internal security bureaus are structured as units or departments within public security bureaus to allow for closer and more effective integrated operations and cooperation as needed.