AnGiang (VNA) - Since regular police were mobilised to work incommunes in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, the locality has seen asignificant drop in crime.

Asmany as 595 police officers from the national public security force startedwork in 119 communes in An Giang last August as part of the Government’sproject “Sending regular police to communes”.

Beforethat, part-time police officers took on the duty of ensuring public safety andsecurity in the area. However, due to lacking professional skills, they faced anumber of difficulties.

“Theregular police force has brought a breath of fresh air to the area becausethey are able to update cases quickly from grassroots and are trusted bypeople,” said Colonel Dinh Van Noi, Director of the provincial Department ofPublic Security.

AnGiang province was a hot spot of crimes and social evils in the Mekong Deltaregion. The public officers on duty were always under pressure to handlecriminal cases.

Withthe help of regular police, safety and security in communes has improved.

NguyenPhuoc An, Chairman of the People's Committee of An Thanh Trung commune in ChoMoi district, said since the regular police force were mobilised to work at thecommune, there have been no social evils. The commune police force hasstrengthened its core role, maintaining security and order in the locality.

Thepart-time police force and self-defence force also support regular policeofficers in patrolling duties as well as preventing and combating crime, hesaid.

Regularpolice have cracked down on a number of criminal cases, erased many places ofsocial evils, drugs, and smuggling, the tasks that part-time security forcefound it hard to do.

Duringthe fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular police were on duty aroundthe clock and collaborated with soldiers to ensure safety for the Vietnam-Cambodiaborder.

ThichThien Chieu, head of Hoa Thanh Pagoda in Nhon Hung commune, said the regularpolice force was warmly welcomed by local people.

“Weare satisfied that administrative procedures are handled neatly, professionallyand quickly by the communal police," he said.

"Thepolice are also very helpful that they support local people with theprocedures.”

SeniorLieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thanh Sang, deputy head of Tinh Bien district’s divisionof public security, said the project was a necessary policy and hasshown positive results.

However,police in the area still face a number of difficulties while performing theduty due to downgrading infrastructure. The criminals’ detention house is toosmall to accommodate a large number of offenders.

Inthe future, the An Giang police will continue to improve police force’s qualityand upgrade infrastructure to facilitate the regular police’s work, he said./.