Ministry of Public Security of The People's Republic of China - Recruitment

Recruitment

Police are officially drawn from every segment of the population without restriction as to sex or ethnic origin. Though some foreigner observers believe that Han Chinese are given preference, there is no statistical data available that supports such a contention. Selection is based on political loyalty, intelligence, and health, as it is for the PLA. There is at least one police school in every provincial-level unit, and others are operated by municipalities. Usually those police designated for leadership positions attend the police schools, and patrolmen are trained at the unit and on the job. Legal training is emphasized as a method of improving the quality of the police forces. In 1985 three institutions of higher learning for police personnel were established—the Chinese People's Public Security University, the University of Police Officers, and the Institute of Criminal Police—offering more than twenty special courses. Students are recruited from the pool of senior middle-school graduates under twenty-two years of age, with a waiver to twenty-five years of age for those who have a minimum of two years' experience in public security work.