The difference between public security and police

(1) Textual research on the concepts of "police" and "public security".

China has had police behavior since ancient times. "Jing", "Cha" and words related to "Jing" appear repeatedly in China's pre-Qin classics and later history books. However, in ancient times, "police" was mostly a verb, and no public security organ named after "police" was found. In ancient Chinese, "alert" mainly refers to warning, alert, alert, emergency or news, which is keen and sensitive; [1] "Inspection" mainly refers to observation, careful observation, inspection, recommendation after inspection, election and other meanings. [2] In short, as a verb, warning it in advance is called warning; Finding out the reason afterwards is called inspection, that is, "call the police first, then check." There are three verbs related to "police" in ancient China: first, there is a word "Facha" in the pre-Qin classic "Zhou Li" ("When you are just old, obey the law and keep the official"); Secondly, Yan Shigu, a scholar in the Tang Dynasty, used the word "police" at the beginning of his annotation for Hanshu ("to keep the police from revealing it"); Thirdly, the word "police inspector" was used in the biography of Cai Tingshu in the Song Dynasty ("There are many thieves in Hebei, and you can only know Bozhou by carefully selecting the county guards. Zhongzhou belongs to Yan Baowu, a county, and there are several people who stop rape and theft, and they make up officials to make them inspect the police and steal every cent. " ).

In ancient China, the use of terms related to "police" to name public security organs was first seen in the "Police Patrol Courtyard" in Liao Dynasty. People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded in the Liao Dynasty in 907. In September16, a "Police Patrol Court" was established in Shi Jing, with police patrol officers, deputy envoys and judges. They wear special uniforms and are responsible for prison proceedings, police patrols and inspections. Jin and Yuan Dynasties inherited and attacked it. China officially named public security organs after "police" in the late Qing Dynasty and after the Revolution of 1911. 1840 After the Opium War broke out, the imperialist powers carved up China and set up concessions in coastal trading port cities. The administration, industry and commerce, taxation and public security of the concession were all controlled by colonial countries. China people call the power of maintaining social order established by imperialism in the concession "inspection". 1900 After China failed to fight against Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing government set up the "Inspection Department" in 1905. After the Revolution of 1911, the Beiyang warlord government and the Republic of China government formally followed Japan's example and established a public security organ called "police". In modern Chinese, "police" refers to "the armed forces of the state to maintain social order and public safety". It also refers to members who participate in such armed forces. ”[2]

In the west, the word "Police" is called police in English, LaPoLice in French and DiePoLizei in German, which mostly comes from Greek ∏oλlTεα and Latin Politia. In ancient times, this word refers to state affairs, including politics, religion and other extensive contents, meaning organized management, civil affairs and so on. In the middle ages, church and state were separated, so the word Politia specifically referred to politics and excluded religion, but the political concepts at that time included military and justice. /kloc-after the 0 th and 7 th centuries, the police gradually separated from the army and the judiciary. The word "police" in western languages only refers to "internal administration", but it is still different from the later "police". The word "police" in modern Spanish only refers to a specific part of internal affairs administration, not all of it. Now, according to its broadest concept, it can be interpreted as the process of policing in English, that is, the process of maintaining social order, which refers to the process in which the government controls, restricts and regulates citizens' behavior. In the Oxford English Dictionary, there are two definitions of police organization: (1) Police organs are government law enforcement departments responsible for maintaining social order and security, and their terms of reference vary greatly in different countries and at different times; (2) Police organs are administrative forces for maintaining social order, preventing and punishing illegal acts and investigating criminal acts; It also refers to all members of the police department or all police or security forces in a certain area.

In ancient China, there was no concept of "public order" in the sense of police or public order, only the name of the county (that is, Gongan County, Hubei Province) and the name of the literary school in the late Ming Dynasty (that is, the literary school headed by three brothers, Yuan Zongdao, Gongan County, Hubei Province). In Modern Chinese Dictionary, "public safety" refers to "the public safety of the whole society (including social order, public property, civil rights, etc.). ): ~ bureau ~ personnel. " Literally, "public safety" mainly refers to "public safety" and "public peace". In Modern Chinese Dictionary, "Gong * * *" means "belonging to the society; Public and public. " "Peace" means "normal order, no harassment"; "(Emotion) is stable and quiet." "Safe" means "no danger; Free from threats; No accident. " Generally speaking, social order is operating normally, and national security, public property and citizens' rights (including citizens' personal safety, personal freedom and legal property, etc.) are guaranteed in a stable state of development. ) Not being threatened and infringed is "public safety". However, since the revolutionary war years, especially since the liberation of the mainland, our party has unified the naming of police organs and public security work as "public security". Therefore, in the society and within the police organs, the customary meaning of "public security" is given to refer to "police" or "public security".

In western languages, there is no word directly corresponding to "public security (personnel, ranks, organs, work)" in the sense of modern people's police in China. According to the English version of the French police, the so-called "public safety committee" in French history was originally called General Safety. General is general, and safety means safety. These two words are merged into "overall security" and "overall peace". This is related to and different from the word "public security" used by China in the past. As for Constable, which is unique to Britain, some scholars think it can be translated as "public security", and because Constable is the name of British grass-roots police, it should be translated as "sheriff". However, when consulting most English-Chinese dictionaries published in China, Constable(= police) is generally translated into police, police officers and patrolmen. The word "Public Security" in China is translated into English and unified as public security, that is, public security. In modern western languages, the general security officer (that is, the "sheriff") mainly refers to people engaged in environmental protection work. In order to avoid misunderstanding in foreign communication, the word "public security" in the sense of China Police is generally directly translated into English "police". For example, the English symbol of the word "public security" on the armband of China Public Security Police's 89-style uniform is "police". Type 99 police uniform only changes the Chinese word "public security" into "police" in the armband, which makes the English symbols more standardized and unified. In fact, as early as 1950, when Chinese mainland began to establish a unified public security organ, with the approval of Premier Zhou Enlai, the public security personnel were collectively referred to as China People's Police. Since then, China's public security organs have also been called "people's police organs". 1957, China promulgated the Regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC) People's Police. China Police Academy was established in 1992. 1992 and 1995, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) successively passed and promulgated the Regulations on Police Ranks in People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Police Law of the People's Republic of China.

(2) The connection and difference between the concepts of "police" and "public security".

The above investigation shows that the two concepts of "police" and "public safety" are both related and different. Its connection or similarity lies in that the term "public security (personnel, ranks, organs and work)" used by the police in China, like "police", refers to the specialized institutions, personnel forces and their action practices of the state in managing and maintaining social security. The difference is mainly manifested in two aspects:

1. Meaning difference. Throughout the world, the concept of "police" can be used as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, "police" refers to the specialized institutions and personnel forces established by the state or government to be responsible for social security management and criminal law enforcement functions. As a verb, "police" refers to the professional behavior or practical activities of the specialized agencies and personnel in charge of social security management and criminal law enforcement in the country or government. The concept of "public safety" is just a state noun, which means "public safety" or "public peace" and indicates the state of social order and peace. In this sense, it is linked with "public safety". "Public security" can't be used as a verb, and it is hard to say that it refers to "police" without subject words such as "personnel", "team", "organ" and "work". In other words, "police" can be regarded as an independent and clear concept in any country and anywhere. The word "public security" can only refer to "police" if it forms corresponding phrases with "personnel", "team", "organ" and "work". In fact, in China's public security organs, it is much more scientific to call public security personnel "public security police" than "public security police". For a long time, the word "police officers" has been used in the documents and leadership speeches of public security organs in China, which means "cadres of public security organs and (ordinary) policemen". After careful investigation, this idiom has two obvious disadvantages: first, the professional identity of cadres in the establishment of public security organs is first of all the police; The (ordinary) police in the establishment of public security organs are also customarily called national cadres in their political identity. Secondly, artificially dividing the whole police force into cadres and (ordinary) policemen will easily lead to the psychological imbalance of the majority of (ordinary) policemen. Therefore, we should stop using the word "public security police".

2. Differences in the scope of use. "Police" is a concept commonly used in many historical periods and most countries. However, "public security (personnel, teams, organs, work, committees)" is only used in a few countries represented by China and Japan. In other words, "police" is the title of public security specialized institutions, personnel strength and their action practice in most countries in the world (including the history of China). However, China's "public security (personnel, ranks, organs and work)" only refers to the modern people's police organs, people's police teams and their functional work established since the establishment of the socialist system in mainland China. Therefore, the relationship between "police" and "public security (personnel, ranks, organs, work)" is a whole and part. China's modern "public security (personnel, ranks, organs, work)" is a part of the world's "police" and a special form of the world's "police".