Police and families give all to control disease

Fighting in tandem

Cao's division in Fengtai district mainly deals with the security of three passenger hubs, 13 stations on Subway Line 10 and the line to the Beijing Daxing International Airport.

"Controlling the flow of people and preventing passengers from becoming infected were our main challenges, especially when we met people with poor understanding of the prevention and control policies," he said.

On Jan 29, for example, he received a report saying that a man at a bus station had refused to wear a face mask and had argued with and assaulted a security management officer. The suspect then fled the area.

To ease the passengers' concerns and maintain services, Cao led a team that examined surveillance videos. The man was apprehended in Fangshan district that same night.

Two days later, the 41-year-old offender was placed in administrative detention for insulting behavior and disturbing public order.

However, the successful operation did not excite Cao and his team.

"None of us talked on the drive back to the downtown from Fangshan. Instead, we were scared (in case any of them had become infected)," he said.

At that critical time, medical experts urged people to reduce face-to-face contact and to self-quarantine at home.

"When I called my colleagues to investigate ongoing cases, I felt sorry for them, especially when I thought they might become infected," Cao recalled. "But I still went to investigate cases without hesitation, because that's the duty of all police officers."

Bai expressed a similar opinion. In early March, he received reports that several electric buggies had been stolen near a park close to Mencheng Lake in Shijingshan. Usually, cases of this type are solved in two or three days, but not this time.

"The pandemic extended the time it took because everyone was wearing face masks in the surveillance videos, which made it hard to recognize suspects. Also, so many places were locked down that it was difficult to follow suspects," Bai said.

He did not give up－instead, he spent more time on his investigations. At the end of March, four suspects were detained and police seized three electric buggies and three batteries.

"Although the pandemic brought many challenges when we handled the cases, our work to fight crime never stopped," Bai said.