In 2018, the Central Party Committee of Public Security and the Ministry of Public Security deployed regular police officers to communes. Practical experience has shown that the commune police force has helped stabilize the situation at the grassroots level. This policy is especially significant in key border communes with complex security and order issues. To achieve these results, the regular commune police force has worked tirelessly day and night, closely monitoring the situation at the local level and carrying out various tasks in the area.
A letter volunteering to go to the border.
In 2021, when the Ministry of Public Security launched a policy to strengthen the police force in border communes with the goal of "focusing on the grassroots," Captain Khuất Bảo Trung (an officer from the Legal Affairs Department) was one of the first officers to volunteer for the assignment.
In a conversation with a VietNamNet reporter at the end of September 2023, Captain Khuất Bảo Trung had only 20 days left to complete his assignment in the border commune of Mù Cả. Sharing about his two years working with his colleagues and the people of Mù Cả commune, he said he would always remember the place with beautiful memories.
Captain Khuat Bao Trung said that in September 2021, he and a team of officers from the Ministry of Public Security were assigned to the Lai Chau Provincial Police Department.
“When I volunteered to work in a border commune, I was determined to wholeheartedly fulfill all assigned tasks. Although I was born and raised in Hanoi , I am ready to accept any assignment wherever I am deployed,” Captain Khuất Bảo Trung shared.
Captain Trung vividly remembers his first trip from the Mường Tè district center to the commune. “The road from the district police station to the commune, following National Highway 4H, stretched endlessly into the distance. The further we went, the fewer houses and people there were, and we gradually found ourselves surrounded by mountains, forests, passes, and rivers. At that moment, I felt a little overwhelmed by this land, the first place I had set foot in to take up my duties,” Captain Trung recounted.
The Mu Ca Commune Police Station was only a temporary workplace at the time. The captain, originally from Hanoi, and his colleagues used B40 steel bars to fence off the area to prevent buffaloes and cows from entering. After a few days of renovation, the workplace was ready to serve the people and fulfill its duties.
Mu Ca commune covers an area equivalent to half of Bac Ninh province, with a length of approximately 60km from its beginning to its end. The vast area, sparse and unevenly distributed population, and the lack of electricity and telephone coverage in many villages and settlements present significant challenges for Captain Trung and his colleagues in their work to understand the local area.
Having worked for 10 years at the Legal Department, Captain Khuất Bảo Trung took up his duties in the border commune of Mù Cả with the intention of sharing his knowledge and experience from his time at the Ministry with the local police force.
“I excel at compiling document systems, reports, and other areas of work such as administrative reform. At one point, I was assigned by the district police leadership to advise and support on some issues related to new policies,” Captain Khuất Bảo Trung recalled.
In addition to sharing his experience with colleagues at the base, Captain Khuất Bảo Trung also participated in police operational training. One instance of subduing a drug buyer in the commune left a strong impression on him.
“In June 2022, the Mu Ca Commune Police led an operation to intercept and arrest a suspect involved in buying and transporting drugs. I, along with another officer, successfully subdued and apprehended the suspect. This is a memory I will cherish, because since putting on the police uniform, I had never participated in an arrest operation like this. First experiences always stay with me,” Captain Khuat Bao Trung shared.
After two years living and working in Mu Ca, Captain Khuat Bao Trung realized that what he learned most was the importance of community outreach, working close to the people, listening to them, and helping them.
A year ago, Minister of Public Security To Lam awarded a Certificate of Commendation to the Mu Ca Commune Police for their achievement in rescuing a child and successfully transporting him to a medical facility. Captain Khuat Bao Trung was the driver who directly took the child to the hospital for emergency treatment.
It was late in the evening of July 2022 when the Mu Ca commune police received a distress call from residents of Mo Su village about a young boy suffering from severe stomach pain. At that time, Mu Ca was experiencing the rainy season, posing a high risk of landslides.
Minutes after the distress call, Captain Khuat Bao Trung and a colleague immediately set off, using a vehicle provided by the Ministry of Public Security to transport the victim to the hospital for emergency treatment.
“That night, I drove over 70km through the forest, encountering more than 20 landslides, to take the child to the hospital for emergency treatment. Fortunately, the journey went smoothly, and the child received timely intervention and treatment from the doctors,” Captain Khuất Bảo Trung recounted.
For Captain Trung, the memories of his time with the people are countless. These encounters and acts of assistance have taught him many valuable lessons.
"In Mu Ca, whenever people mention Captain Trung going to the villages, some villages will compete to be the first to invite him to have a meal with their family," Captain Trung said with a smile, speaking about the close relationship between him and the villagers in the border region.
Having worked as a commune police officer for two years, Captain Trung said he feels very happy and proud when his children ask him about his daily work.
"I'm always happy to tell my children about my work in the border commune – I'm a police officer there," Captain Trung said, sharing that the stories from the border commune are so vivid and engaging that he really wants to share them with his children.
When asked about a memento he would take home upon leaving Mu Ca commune, Captain Trung said he would propose to the District Police to request a police officer's duty bag. He said the bag bears the inscription "Commune Police" which he cherishes. He also added that once his work is settled, he will return to Mu Ca to visit and plan charitable programs for the local people.
The police lieutenant has a special connection with Mù Cả.
In Mu Ca, the story of Lieutenant Sung A Nhia and his wife is often mentioned, a tale of fate and destiny intertwined as a police officer became a son-in-law in Mu Ca. A Hmong man, born and raised in Ta Tong commune (Muong Te district), Lieutenant Nhia met his wife in Mu Ca commune and was assigned to duty in her hometown.
Lieutenant Sung A Nhia said that he and his wife met in 2015 in Hanoi. During a field trip, he met a girl from his hometown in Muong Te district and exchanged phone numbers to stay in contact. In 2019, Lieutenant Nhia and his wife officially registered their marriage.
Towards the end of the year, while working in Ta Tong commune, he was transferred to Mu Ca commune. Although his wife's house was near the commune police station, the area was so large that there were times when he would be away working for many weeks before returning home to visit his family.
Lieutenant Sung A Nhia's work in Mu Ca faced many difficulties as he was assigned the task of monitoring three settlements: Lu Kho, Cu Ma Cao, and Cu Ma Thap. These three settlements were the result of the free migration of Hmong people from various localities across the country.
To reach these settlements, Lieutenant Nhia had to travel 40km, including nearly 20km of dirt road crossing hills and fields, where even a slight misstep could easily lead to an accident.
"I visit the village almost every week, and during peak periods, I go 2-3 times a week. Each trip takes 3-4 hours," Lieutenant Nhia shared.
According to Lieutenant Nhia, being of Hmong ethnicity himself, his work in three settlements where 100% of the population is Hmong has proven highly effective in disseminating legal information to the people.
Although his wife's house was near the commune police station, Lieutenant Nhia often had to leave home to work in the field. At peak times, he would be away from home for a whole month. So when asked about what still bothered him in Mu Ca, Lieutenant Nhia confided, "I still owe my wife a wedding."
According to Lieutenant Nhia, he registered his marriage during the pandemic, so he couldn't hold a wedding ceremony. Later, his wife gave birth to a baby, so now the couple is planning and choosing a suitable date to hold the wedding ceremony.
In 2021, implementing the policy of the Central Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security on strengthening the police force in key border communes with complex security and order issues, in the first phase, 400 officers working in units under the Ministry of Public Security were transferred to work in border commune police forces.
This policy aims to strengthen the forces directly involved in combat, focus on the grassroots level, restructure the police force at all levels, and build a professional commune-level police force.
General To Lam, a member of the Politburo and Minister of Public Security, affirmed at a meeting with officers assigned to reinforce border commune police forces in October 2021 that the above policy is not only to strengthen and supplement the commune police force but also to create conditions for officers to gain experience, train, be challenged, and supplement practical experience.
Next issue: The impact of regular police forces in transforming border communes.
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