Remember that time the Chaoyang police department released an app geared toward allowing the district’s residents to help fight crime? If not, it happened in February and it’s been kind of a success. It also turns out that fighting crime has been fairly lucrative for the "Chaoyang masses," as they have come to be referred to.
READ MORE: Want to Help Fight Crime in Beijing? There's an App for That
Some informants are even earning a monthly stipend of RMB300-500 just for providing tips to the Chaoyang police department, Global Times reports.
The Chaoyang Masses app is named after the well-known volunteer crime fighters known as the "Chaoyang qunzhong." In case you haven’t heard of them, the Chaoyang qunzhong (or Chaoyang masses) is a moniker given to a group of local (mostly retired) volunteers who tip off authorities when they notice suspicious behavior. They are also commonly referred to as a CIA-like organization and have been dubbed by many as the “fifth information organization."
There are currently more than 190,000 registered crime-fighters in the area, and 130,000 of them are registered using their real names. In the past, tips from Chaoyang qunzhong have successfully helped to bring down numerous criminals, including some pretty high-profile celebrities. Jackie Chan’s son was arrested in 2014 for a drug-related incident, and in 2015 singer Mao Ning was also detained for drugs.
Over 60,000 people have downloaded the Chaoyang Masses app since it was launched in February.
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