This book documents a systematic investigation into various aspects of policing in the People's Republic of China, including its scholarship, idea, origin, history, education, culture, reform, and theory. It approaches the study of Chinese policing from an indigenous perspective, informed by local empirical data. In proposing an innovative theory of community policing entitled «Police Power as a Social Resource Theory», the book seeks to look at crime as a personal problem, and police as a social resource, from the perspective of the people and not the state.

In Policing China, Suzanne E. Scoggins delves into the paradox of China's self-projection of a strong security state while having a weak police bureaucracy. Assessing the problems of resources, enforcement, and oversight that beset the police, outside of cracking down on political protests, Scoggins finds that the central government and the Ministry of Public Security have prioritized "stability maintenance" (weiwen) to the detriment of nearly every aspect of policing. The result, she argues, is a hollowed out and ineffective police force that struggles to deal with everyday crime. Using interviews with police officers up and down the hierarchy, as well as station data, news reports, and social media postings, Scoggins probes the challenges faced by ground-level officers and their superiors at the Ministry of Public Security as they attempt to do their jobs in the face of funding limitations, reform challenges, and structural issues. Policing China concludes that despite the social control exerted by China's powerful bureaucracies, security failures at the street level have undermined Chinese citizens' trust in the legitimacy of the police and the capabilities of the state.

In Policing China, Suzanne E. Scoggins delves into the paradox of China's self-projection of a strong security state while having a weak police bureaucracy. Assessing the problems of resources, enforcement, and oversight that beset the police, outside of cracking down on political protests, Scoggins finds that the central government and the Ministry of Public Security have prioritized "stability maintenance" (weiwen) to the detriment of nearly every aspect of policing. The result, she argues, is a hollowed out and ineffective police force that struggles to deal with everyday crime. Using interviews with police officers up and down the hierarchy, as well as station data, news reports, and social media postings, Scoggins probes the challenges faced by ground-level officers and their superiors at the Ministry of Public Security as they attempt to do their jobs in the face of funding limitations, reform challenges, and structural issues. Policing China concludes that despite the social control exerted by China's powerful bureaucracies, security failures at the street level have undermined Chinese citizens' trust in the legitimacy of the police and the capabilities of the state.

This is the first scholarly book to explore the empowerment and the social service role of frontline police officers in the People’s Republic of China. It approaches the study of role strain and empowerment, informed by local empirical data and personal experience. Thematically organized and focusing on those issues of greatest concern to the public, such as the dual social control (informal and formal) mechanism, mass line policing, strike-hard campaigns, police professionalization and professional ethics, as well as the paramilitary-bureaucratic structure in the Chinese police organization, it provides a detailed discussion of these and other contemporary issues. The book offers a valuable resource for students and researchers in the area of comparative policing and comparative criminal justice, as well as police professionals and policy-makers.

With nearly 20 percent of the worlds population located in China, what happens there is significant to all nations. Sweeping changes have altered the cultural landscape of China, and as opportunities for wealth have grown in recent years, so have opportunities for crime. Police Reform in China provides a rare and insightful glimpse of policing in

This is the first book to look at women in policing in the mainland of the People’s Republic of China. Informed by empirical data as well as rich secondary information drawn from a wide range of published materials, and written by a former police officer in China, this book offers a detailed discussion of key issues concerning women in the Chinese police. Mainly drawing on face-to-face interviews with police officers and student probationers in multiple force areas, Women Police in Contemporary China offers rich insights into women’s lives in Chinese policing. The book first discusses how Chinese women were introduced to the male-only organisation and their representation in the Chinese police today. It elaborates women’s experiences as female officers in the police and, more specifically, their everyday work, contributions to policing, women police’s own perceptions of their roles and positions in the police profession and the gendered challenges and concerns facing them. It also looks at police occupational culture from a gendered lens. This book is illuminating reading for all those engaged in policing studies, gender and justice, policymaking, comparative criminal justice and all those interested in a woman’s role in the Chinese police.

Using survey data collected from 382 Chinese police officers training in a Chinese police university, this research is the first empirical study to describe Chinese police perceptions of subcultural topics, including the role of crime fighting and community service, cynicism, isolation, solidarity, receptivity to change and traditionalism. This book describes the research method adopted in this study and the findings together with comparisons with Western police cultural studies. In addition, it covers an extensive review of Chinese policing history and evolution of policing strategies, and a review of police subcultural themes and their potential determinants on the basis of Western studies, making it both beneficial and of interest for researchers and practitioners who would like to know more about contemporary policing in China. This book provides readers with insights into a little-investigated area of policing – the perceptions of Chinese frontline police. It also makes it easy to compare the similarities and differences between police perceptions in China and the West.