Public security bureau (China)

thumb|[[Puding County Public Security Bureau Traffic Police team]]

A public security bureau (PSB; ) of a city or county, or public security department (PSD; ) in a province or autonomous region of the People's Republic of China is a generic term for a police department.

Duties

According to the State Council, the official duties of public security bureaus are:

Preventing, stopping and investigating criminal activities
Preventing and responding to terrorism
Protecting public order and safety
Managing Traffic, firefighting and dangerous goods
Managing hukou and immigration
Border protection
Protection of VIPs and important locations
Managing protests
Prevention of cybercrime

Organization

Public security bureaus and public security departments act as the main civilian police agency of their city or province, respectively.

The system of public security bureaus is administered by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which co-ordinates the work of provincial public security departments that are also answerable to the local governments and provincial party secretaries.

Each province/autonomous region has a public security department, while each municipality (Including directly administered municipalities like Beijing or Tianjin) has a public security bureau. Counties and county level cities also have smaller PSBs. Districts have branches(), also known as subbureaus, in contrast to counties and county level cities.

The PSB system does not apply to the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong, as they have their own police forces, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Public Security Police Force of Macau, respectively.

Internal organization

Units of a PSB vary from agency to agency, though most bureaus have a traffic police unit, a SWAT unit, a crime investigation unit, a legal affairs unit, a food safety and environmental crime unit, a detention center/jail and a public order unit, though functions of each unit also vary, For example, in the Daishan County PSB, the Public Order unit is also in charge of food safety, while in the Shenzhen Municipal PSB there is a separate unit for Food Safety and environmental crime.

Some PSB's also operate overseas service stations.

Specialized Public Security Bureaus

Railway Public Security Bureaus

thumb|[[Humen railway station Police Station, Subordinate to the Shenzhen Railway Public Security Division]]

thumb|[[Hong Kong West Kowloon station|West Kowloon Station Police Station]]

The (10th Bureau) operates a Railway Public Security Bureau (铁路公安局) in all 18 Passenger groups of the China Railway (For example, the has jurisdiction over the China Railway Harbin Group). Under Railway Public Security Bureaus are Railway Public Security Divisions (铁路公安处), which are in every Hub station. Train stations have their own police stations, including the Mainland Port Area in Hong Kong West Kowloon station.

The main crimes handled by Railway Public Security Bureaus are seat hogging, sexual harassment and petty theft, though they are responsible for handling all crime occurring on railroads in their jurisdiction.

Railway Public Security Divisions often operate railway SWAT teams.

Forest Public Security Bureaus

Provincial Public Security Departments also operate , who are in charge of law enforcement in forests of their respective provinces; Many municipal PSBs also operate their own municipal Forestry PSBs. The main crimes handled include illegal logging, illegal fishing, poaching and environmental crime. They are also in charge of search and rescue, environmental protection and wildfire suppression in their jurisdiction.

Until recently, provincial forest PSBs were under the provincial Forestry Department, though in recent years Forest Public Security Bureaus have begun to be transferred over to be handed over to the provincial public security department, the first being the Hainan Provincial Forest Public Security Bureau being transferred to the in December 2018, with other provinces following in the 2020s.

Chengguan

Many local public security bureaus often clash with local Chengguan units when PSB Police officers respond to reports of Chengguan brutality, resulting in many cases of PSB Police being assaulted along with police equipment, such as bodycams and even firearms being stolen.

People's Armed Police

Public security bureaus often participate in Joint patrols with local People's Armed Police units. Additionally, one of the major roles of the People's Armed police is to provide assistance to the local PSB during mass incidents such as riots, gang related activities and terrorism.