Ministry of Public Security proposes new name for civil defense

The Ministry of Public Security is drafting a draft law on Forces participating in protecting security and order at the grassroots level.

This Ministry proposed to unify the part-time commune police, civil defense forces, and civil defense team leaders and deputy team leaders into one force called "the force participating in protecting security and order at the grassroots level".

The Ministry of Public Security proposed to unify the part-time commune police, civil defense, and civil defense team leaders and deputy team leaders into one new name.

What are the duties and powers?

According to the draft of the Ministry of Public Security, the force participating in protecting security and order at the grassroots level is established on the principle of volunteerism. Vietnamese citizens aged 18 and over, regardless of gender, who meet the criteria and have an application to participate will be considered and selected.

This force is equipped with support tools, books, means, and necessary equipment; uses uniforms, badges, signs, certificates, etc. to perform assigned tasks.

The force participating in protecting security and order at the grassroots level is recognized by the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level; it has the task of coordinating and supporting the police force in ensuring security and order and social safety at the commune level.

For example, the force will collect and evaluate the situation of social conflicts, public disorder, activities of suspects and defendants on bail... to report to the commune police.

The force also participates in disseminating and propagating guidelines, policies, laws on ensuring security and order, building a mass movement to protect national security; implementing regulations on natural disaster prevention and control, fire prevention and fighting.

According to the proposal of the Ministry of Public Security, the force is authorized to arrest criminals red-handed and wanted persons; participate in coordinating and supporting functional forces in arresting wanted criminals and those who are hiding in the area.

When arresting, the force will disarm and murder the arrested person, preserve relevant documents and objects, protect the scene and immediately take the arrested person to the competent authority or report to the competent authority according to the provisions of law.

Approximately how many people?

Major General Pham Cong Nguyen, Director of the Department of Legislation and Administrative and Judicial Reform (Ministry of Public Security), said that in essence, the force participating in protecting security and order at the grassroots level is not a new force but only the consolidation of the three existing forces.

This restructuring will not increase human resources or budget compared to the current situation. The functions and tasks of the basic force remain the same as before; now they are unified under one focal point to improve work efficiency as well as management and operation.

According to the draft of the Ministry of Public Security, the force participating in protecting security and order at the grassroots level is arranged into security and order teams at the administrative units at the village, hamlet, residential group and equivalent levels (generally called villages); including the positions of team leader, deputy team leader and team members.

Major General Pham Cong Nguyen said that according to calculations from the Ministry of Public Security, each village-level administrative unit can arrange a security and order team with 3 or more members, as prescribed by the local government.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Home Affairs show that the country currently has more than 80,000 village-level administrative units. Thus, if multiplied by the basic 3 people in a security team, the number of people participating in security protection at the grassroots level will be about 250,000 people, depending on the actual situation.

According to the draft of the Ministry of Public Security, the funding and facilities to ensure the operation of the force will be guaranteed by the local budget and mobilized from other legal financial sources. In case of difficulty, the central budget will support.

The People's Committee at the commune level shall, based on the actual conditions of the locality, arrange locations and workplaces for the force to meet the requirements of performing the tasks./.

According to Thanh Nien

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