Police urge hotels to register guest IDs

City police are asking small hotels and chains to record the IDs of all guests as it can help them catch criminal suspects.

Police said all hotels are required to register the ID of every guest for security reasons. However, they said some hotels rated three-stars or below and chain motels don't always keep great records.

Changning District police officer Zhou Yu said some small hotels "try to attract customers by skipping the registration."

Zhou added during a check of 34 hotels and motels, five did not abide by the real-name registration policy.

Police often provide hotels with wanted lists of criminal suspects that includes their IDs and sometimes photographs. If a guest registers with a suspect ID, police said the hotel should call officers immediately.

Changning police also said they are testing a new idea in which they reward hotels for providing tips that lead to criminal suspects being captured.

Four suspects have been caught with help from hotels since April, police said.

Hotels that fail to register guest IDs can be fined or shut down, police said.