Outstanding commune police will be recruited into the regular police force.

On the sidelines of the National Assembly on the afternoon of June 7, Minister of Public Security To Lam had a discussion about the draft Law.People's Public Security (amended)Regulations are in place that the commune police will be a regular force instead of a semi-professional force as before, and the Ministry of Public Security will dispatch 25,000 regular police officers to the communes.

- Why is the regularization of commune police being raised at this time, Minister?

-Actually, the communal police were stipulated in the 2014 Law on People's Public Security, because the people's public security had to be regular. But because at that time we did not have enough forces and the situation in the commune was not complicated or urgent, so they were still kept as irregular forces.

Now, the amendment of the Law and regulations is still in accordance with the current Law because there cannot be two types of police. For a long time, public opinion has been outraged by the cases ofThe police who beat people, violate laws,... are actually part of the irregular force in this commune, but they are still police. They are called police but in essence they are not.It should not be so unclear, they need to be legitimate to work.

Furthermore, if we still maintain the semi-professional commune police, when theyIf you sacrifice but do not receive the police regime, do not receive training in your work, are not managed, nurtured, or professionally guided like the police, it will be very difficult to operate.

- Many people are concerned that building the communal police force into a regular force will lead to an increase in the number of staff in the sector. How do you explain this understanding?

- We brought the regular police force to operate at the commune level but did not ask for any more positions, only made adjustments within the industry. Everything is still in the spirit of the Ministry being streamlined, the province must also be neat, the district must also be neat. Previously, the district did not have commune police, so there was a police team in charge of the commune. Now the district is always in charge of the commune, no longer needing to be in charge of any commune.In the short term, the payroll may not be reduced, but the structure will have to be reduced.

Regularizing the communal police also ensures that there will be no additional force. The informal communal police will be mobilized to become a militia force, tightly organized, and regulated by law for their activities. We are proposing to build a Law on grassroots security to regulate this militia force, possibly regulating the activities of those who are calledknights, volunteers who participate in the movement to prevent and fight crime among the masses.

Currently the knights only operate spontaneously,There is no law regulating their operations.We encourage that volunteer model but there must be laws and guidelines to ensure safety.

- So if in the past the commune police were only allowed to do some initial investigations such as: making records of incidents caught in the act,... but later when they become regular forces, will they be given the same rights as an investigator?

- This force will be decentralized to do some work. For a long time, the informal commune police have also been doing some work such as receiving crime reports, so they have also received initial investigations.

If the communal police force is not professionally trained, they may commit violations while operating without knowing it. The Constitution stipulates that civil liberties must be respected, and only those assigned responsibilities and powers may carry out certain tasks as prescribed by law. AndIf done in accordance with the law, it must be regularized.The police force must strictly comply with the Constitution.

The general requirement now is to build an elite police force. Regularizing the commune police is a step in that process.

- The Ministry plans to send 25,000 full-time police officers to communes, so there will be both full-time and part-time police officers in communes.They will do the same job, same environment but different regimes and policies. How will this be resolved, sir?

- This has been surveyed and calculated.Previously, the part-time police force in the commune performed police duties but was not paid by the industry.The province pays the salary. Now the province does not have to set aside a budget to pay these people anymore, but still has this team to assign to other tasks in the commune, which is very good, contributing to the source of cadres who do not have to be paid.Besides, excellent, enthusiastic commune police officers who meet the standards to be recruited into the police force will be recruited, including police officers.

What is the special department in the Ministry of Public Security?

The draft Law on the People's Public Security (amended) stipulates the establishment of a special Department in the Ministry of Public Security and the Department Director has a military rank ceiling of Lieutenant General. Explaining this content, Minister of Public Security To Lam said: "These are essentially understood as Departments that directly fight, face criminals every day and every hour; are departments that research and advise on strategic issues. Such factors are special."

"For example, when talking about the police, we are talking about fighting criminal crimes. The departments for fighting criminal crimes and fighting drug crimes are special departments. Or the departments for investigating economic crimes and corruption. Every day, we have to investigate and face difficulties. Those are the forces that directly fight. Therefore, there may be several special departments, not just one," said the Minister of Public Security.