Research On Shanghai River Police In The Period Of The Republic Of China(1912-1941)

After the second Opium War,Shanghai port,as the center of domestic and foreign trade,played an increasingly important role.The number of ships in and out of Shanghai port has increased dramatically.In order to seize the anchorage,foreign businessmen run wild,and ship collisions and channel congestion occur from time to time.At the same time,the large-scale construction of port wharves and warehouses has increased the number of port goods,and the phenomenon of stealing goods in Shanghai port has also increased,which has seriously affected the safety of goods and port security.At the request of foreign businessmen,in order to effectively protect the interests of all parties,the river police was officially established in Shanghai port in March 1869.The purpose is to protect the customs revenue,protect the waterway and prevent crime and theft.The development and improvement of the Shanghai river police system has gone through three stages.The river police has gradually built into an organization with a systematic organizational system from the initial imperfection and imperfect system.The number of river police personnel,weapons and equipment,ships and other fields have been comprehensively improved,which also provides a historical reference for the development of modern Shanghai river police.In terms of the organizational changes and personnel structure of the river police,the internal responsibilities of the river police are clear and the management is scientific.After three reorganizations,the river police have been improved in varying degrees in terms of job changes.In terms of staff recruitment,they can be selected from within the customs and the Navy,or they can join the river police after probation and physical examination.In terms of the number of river police,foreigners hold higher posts.Although there are many Chinese staff,they are mostly engaged in the task of going out to patrol.After the May 4th movement,the consciousness of the Chinese nation was awakened,and the voice for recovering the sovereignty of the Customs was rising day by day.During this period,the number of Chinese staff of the river police increased significantly.In terms of personnel management system,Shanghai Customs has formulated rules and regulations for the management of river police to standardize the work of river police.In the business assessment mechanism,the rewards and penalties were clearly defined to improve the efficiency and enthusiasm of the river police.However,in terms of the remuneration of river police,there are obvious differences between Chinese and foreign staff.The remuneration of foreign police officers is significantly higher than that of Chinese staff.The river police have improved their guns and equipment.The main functions of river police are to protect customs duties,maintain port security and smooth navigation.In the process of river police patrol,with the expansion of the berthing boundary of foreign ships and the expansion of the port patrol area,the scope of river police patrol has also expanded.In terms of port security,the police force was increased,equipment was updated,and the Whangpoo River and Soochow River were actively patrolled to intercept thieves and severely crack down on thieves who stopped ships and robbed on the water surface.In terms of port fire control,the port fire brigade of Jiang Customs was established,and fire boats were added to provide timely rescue for ships in fire in the port,so as to nip in the bud,protect the safety of coastal warehouses,and improve the modern port fire-fighting facilities and fire-fighting technology.In terms of smooth channel,in addition to formulating rules and regulations for vessels involved in collision accidents in Soochow River and Whangpoo River,the river police also actively assist in dredging the channel to ensure smooth channel.For the situation that the channel is blocked by garbage,the river police take the form of fines or detention to control the dumping of garbage.In terms of contacts between the river police government and relevant agencies,the river police actively cooperated with the chambers of Commerce,assisted foreign chambers of Commerce and trade associations in combating pirates intercepted on the water,and arranged for the river police to protect merchant ships.On the water police with similar functions,although the two sides often conflict in the exercise of their respective functions,both aim to maintain port security.In terms of health and epidemic prevention,before the establishment of the port quarantine administration,the river police also assumed the responsibility for the health and epidemic prevention of Shanghai port to a certain extent,strictly controlled the ships entering and leaving the port,and ensured the health and epidemic prevention of the port.In terms of port management,the river police actively participated in cracking down on port smuggling cases,assisted the customs anti smuggling team in cracking down on port smuggling cases,and ensured customs revenue.Therefore,the successful example of the establishment of Shanghai river police has also prompted the customs to actively promote it at all ports and promoted the modernization of the public security management system at all ports.