Beijing's crime rate drops 71% during APEC

Emergency calls related to criminal cases dropped 71 percent during the seven-day Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conferences in Beijing, capital police said on Wednesday.

Phone calls about road accidents and traffic jam have also decreased by 44 percent and 79 percent respectively since Nov 1.

Police have nabbed more than 700 criminal suspects and cracked down over 2,100 criminal cases since Nov 1, The Beijing Municipality Public Security Bureau reported.

Beijing deployed more than 28,000 officers daily to provide security during the APEC conferences, which were held from Nov 5 to 11.

Wang Shoujiang, director of the division for APEC security, said the bureau added 768 cameras to its surveillance network, established 161 patrol stations and employed modern technology devices in patrols and inspections during the meetings.

Mid-sized helicopters installed with high-definition video systems were also put into use, said Zhu Pengfei, an officer on the Bureau's police aviation team. He says that the helicopters can quickly send video recordings from the air to a control center.

A 1-meter-tall explosive ordnance disposal robot was also ready to help police enter dangerous areas.

"The robot can greatly improve work efficiency and protect police officers from deadly injuries," said Xing Zhigang, an officer of a special operations unit in the department.

According to Xing, 800,000 citizens provided assistance to the police in public safety prevention during the event.