CHINESE security forces have launched a crackdown on fake police officers, the official press reported yesterday.
The number of people posing as police officers has increased dramatically in the past year to the point where in some counties only one-third of those in uniform are actually employees of the Public Security Bureau, the Guangming Daily said.
Many of those in police uniform are government officials, drivers, private entrepreneurs and security guards but an increasing number are criminals posing as police to extort money, make illegal searches and run prostitution rackets.
The Guangming Daily detailed half-a-dozen cases of criminal gangs in the central provinces of Henan and Hebei using police uniforms, badges and vehicles to prey on unsuspecting residents and motorists.
Police uniforms are remarkably easy to obtain, the newspaper said, with several clothing manufacturers mass producing them for sale on the open market.
Other uniforms and badges are stolen or sold off by the police themselves. The local police station in the freewheeling market town of Baigou, on the border of Beijing and Hebei, sells every thing from standard issue pistols and walkie-talkies to police identity cards and bumper stickers.
Many other police stations regularly sell off or rent out cars and motorcycles to government officials and private citizens to make money.
