Netizens question necessity of Dalian's female mounties
Staff Reporter 2013-07-08 08:34
Three female mounties patrol the streets in Dalian. (Photo/Xinhua)
A retired policeman sparked debate last month after suggesting that the city government of Dalian in northeastern China's Liaoning province should reform its popular all-female mounted police division, Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Weekly reports.
Zhao Ming, who retired in 2009, made the suggestion in late May, triggering an internet survey on the necessity of the division on May 28. Over 7,000 internet users took part in the survey, with 76% of them agreeing that the female mounties should be disbanded, saying they are pretty but useless and a waste of government money, while 15.2% said that the female mountie team are necessary as they help to promote Dalian and deter crime.
Zhao said he is not suggesting the abolition of the female mounties but that they need to reform as they have no real function in the police force and are essentially a public relation tool.
Following the heated debate online and in local media in early June, the female mounties division has suspended their patrols of Dalian streets. The division was set up in 1999 by the Dalian city government for 4 million yuan (US$653,000).
In late 1994, the city government, then headed by disgraced former Chongqing Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai, established the female mountie team, encompassing 23 female police with an average age of 23 and height of 1.7 meters. The city government spent over 1 million yuan (US$163,000) the following year to buy 11 British police horses and set up a male mountie team joined by 20 policemen each standing over 1.8 meters. Their main jobs include routine patrols, patrols in major festivals, foreign affairs etiquette, and patrolling outdoor performances.
After the Dalian female founties gained popularity, several other cities across China such as Wenzhou, Kunming, Xuyi, Ningxia, Shenzhen, Baotou, Chongqing and Chengdu followed suit and set up similar teams, the Southern Metropolis Weekly said.
Despite debate over their necessity, the female mounties are a huge a cash earner for the Dalian government. Tourists pay 50 yuan (US$8) to buy a ticket to visit the Dalian Mountie base and take photos with the female mounties. Since its establishment in 1994, the base has sold tickets worth up to 30 million yuan (US$4.9 million).
