Traffic cops draft 8,000 assistants

SHANGHAI police will recruit 8,000 assistant officers in the next three years, with the first 2,500 of them expected to be on the streets by May next year.

The new assistants will replace the 16,000 assistants who now work with traffic police, the city public security bureau said yesterday.

The current assistants were recruited from security companies and their qualifications, salaries and training standards vary from district to district.

New recruits must be Shanghai residents with a college degree and be under 36 years of age at time of application.

“Our goal is to standardize management of assistants so we can provide a better service with fewer of them,” said Shi Min, in charge of assistants with the bureau.