Beijing task force cracks down on safety threats

A task force set up to tackle safety threats related to the environment, tourism, food and medicine in Beijing played a significant role in reducing crime in 2017, the city police said on Wednesday.

The team, part of the Public Security Bureau, uncovered more than 800 crimes and detained nearly 900 suspects, according to official data.

"The environment, food, medicine and tourism are always hot issues, and residents have high safety requirements in these industries," said Pan Xuhong, deputy director of the bureau.

As for telecom fraud and cybersecurity attacks, two other major crimes, he said the bureau had cooperated with financial departments and sought out online security loopholes to prevent economic losses of 1.98 billion yuan ($315 million) and solve 1,664 cybersecurity.

In 2017, Beijing police solved 52,000 criminal cases and punished 93,000 people in accordance with the law, up by 24.2 percent and 5.4 percent respectively year-on-year, the data show.

"We always take the fight against crimes that threaten people’s lives and property as a priority," Pan said. "We will increase our efforts to maintain public order, providing a better and safer living environment for residents in the city."