Mountainous people in Nghe An participate in denouncing crime through 'peace keychain'

For more than half a year, the “Peaceful Key” model that the Quy Hop District Police force has coordinated with local authorities and authorities has proven effective in promoting the spirit of the entire population denouncing crime. Combined with other measures, many cases of security and order violations have been promptly captured and handled, contributing to keeping people’s lives peaceful.

Promoting the role of "eyes and ears" of the people

In Hop Lien hamlet, Dong Hop commune, although the incident happened more than a month ago, until now, whenever mentioning the gambling ring in the area that was arrested and destroyed by the district police force, people still express their gratitude to the police officers. However, few people know that this incident also had a significant contribution from the people by promptly reporting the news via the hotline number printed on the key chain that the district police had given them earlier.

Quy Hop District Police presented "Peace Keychains" to people in Banh village, Chau Quang commune. Photo: Hoai Thu

Specifically, on February 6, 2020, gambling activities took place at Mr. Vu Van Khanh's house in Hop Lien hamlet. While the gamblers were engrossed in gambling, the Quy Hop district police force raided and arrested 6 subjects, confiscating 800,000 VND at the gambling table and 8 million VND on the subjects along with some other evidence. The district police directed the handling according to the provisions of the law. Although the amount of money used by the gamblers was not much, this activity had occurred many times, affecting the lives and psychology of some households here. Therefore, after this gambling ring was eliminated, peace was restored to the village. Regarding the process of handling the case, Lieutenant Colonel Vo Dinh Loi - Deputy Head of Quy Hop District Police said that immediately after receiving the report from the people, although it was almost midnight, Quy Hop District Police immediately sent a working group to wade across the fields to ensure access to the scene and catch the violators red-handed.

Lieutenant Colonel Vo Dinh Loi also said that this is just one of dozens of cases reported by people to the district police force through hotline numbers. These phone numbers are printed on key chains that Quy Hop district police gave to people through the implementation of the "Peaceful Key Chain" model, deployed since August 2019. Among them, there are many "hot" cases, threatening security, order, and safety of people's lives at the grassroots level, but thanks to people reporting through the hotline number printed on the key chain that they always carry with them, the police force has promptly handled the cases.

A typical case is the incident where a young man showed signs of being high on drugs and used a dangerous weapon to threaten to kill someone in Quy Hop town. At around 9:00 p.m. on October 1, 2019, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy in block 12, Quy Hop town called the hotline for help from the police force about her younger brother, Nguyen Van Tuan (born in 1973), showing signs of being high on drugs, vandalizing the house, cursing, and threatening to beat family members. Ms. Thuy and her family had to close the door and "hold out" and call the authorities. Immediately after receiving the report, the police force was present at the scene, persuading and controlling the subject. Subject Nguyen Van Tuan has been addicted to drugs for many years, after this incident, Quy Hop town police continued to advise on making a record to send Nguyen Van Tuan to compulsory drug rehabilitation according to the provisions of the law.

Key chains with hotline numbers written on them are always carried by many Quy Hop residents. Photo: Hoai Thu

In addition to the “hot” cases that need immediate police intervention, through the hotline number listed on the key chain, people also report many cases related to security, order and social safety such as theft in Pha Met village, Chau Quang commune; vehicles violating traffic safety and order, drug addiction hotspots; other social evils; traffic accidents, work accidents, etc.

Many violations of oversized and overloaded vehicles have been handled with fines thanks to images and video clips provided by local people. Petty theft in Pha Met village, Chau Quang commune has also been reduced. Many drug addiction and drug trafficking hotspots such as in Tam Hop commune have been eradicated. It can be seen that the "peaceful keys" have aroused the spirit of people in cooperating with the authorities, contributing together with local authorities to maintain security, order and peace in life.

Replicating effective practices

We went to Chau Quang commune, one of the areas that Quy Hop district police identified as needing to strengthen measures to maintain and ensure security and order. Chau Quang is a commune with a fairly large population of more than 12,000 people, belonging to 26 hamlets and villages, gathering Kinh people (48%) and Thai people (52%). Being a commune on the outskirts of the town, the commune has an industrial park, Dong Nai market and is also the location of a boarding school where students from many communes in the district come to study and live.

Mr. Phan Dinh Phuong - Head of Chau Quang Commune Police said that due to the characteristics of the population and the area, Chau Quang used to have many complicated situations regarding security and order. However, thanks to the coordination between the local government and functional forces, all levels and sectors implemented models such as "Peaceful Bell", "Peaceful Keychain", "Crime Reporting Box", security and order in Chau Quang commune have been stabilized, helping people enjoy a peaceful life.

Quy Hop District Police selected key communes in terms of security and order to implement the "Peaceful Key Chain" model. Photo: Hoai Thu

Ms. Vi Thi La in Banh village, Chau Quang commune said that before 2019, when the commune and village started to ring the gong to maintain security and order at 10 pm every day, the people of Banh village gradually got used to the awareness of maintaining security and order. There are no longer scenes of young people gathering to play on the streets late at night, the people are very assured about security and order, and the children have a quiet space to study.

In addition, Ms. La also said that she and many other people in Banh village have participated in the police forum listening to the people at the commune People's Committee headquarters many times and were given a key chain with the hotline number written on it by the district police officers. She always carries that key chain with her, and when there is an incident that needs to be reported, she just needs to dial the available phone number.

“Before we received the keychains, many times we wanted to report incidents and information about crimes to the police to prevent them, but we didn’t know how to do it in a timely manner,” said Ms. Vi Thi La.

More than 4,000 keychains with hotline numbers for receiving crime reports were given to people by Quy Hop District Police. Photo: Hoai Thu

Along with giving out key chains with hotline numbers, since December 2019, 26 hamlets and villages in Chau Quang commune have also installed a crime reporting mailbox in each hamlet and village to fully promote the spirit of the entire population participating in maintaining security, order and social safety. Thanks to that, Chau Quang commune has many hamlets and villages without drug addicts such as Quang Hung village, Quang Huong village; many hamlets and villages maintain good security and order such as Dong Huong village, Dong Tam village, Banh village, Quang Vinh village, etc.

It is known that since August 2019, when Quy Hop District Police deployed the "Peaceful Keychain" model, more than 4,000 keychains have been given to officials and people in many communes in Quy Hop district, especially key communes in ensuring security and order such as Chau Quang, Tam Hop, Chau Thai...

Thanks to the implementation of this model, since August 2019, there have been about 15 calls from people in Quy Hop area to the police hotline each month. The cooperation and timely reporting of the people, along with the participation of the authorities in timely handling, has created trust among the people, and encouraged people to actively cooperate with the police force and local authorities in maintaining security and order, preventing all kinds of crimes.

“All cases reported by people through the hotline are handled directly by us, or directed to be handled by police at all levels depending on the nature and content of the case. In the coming time, we will continue to replicate this model, as well as other effective models to contribute to bringing a peaceful life to the people,” said Lieutenant Colonel Vo Dinh Loi.