77th Public Security Conference opens in Hanoi

The conference aims to review the task performance of the Public Security Forces (PSF) and results of the emulation movement "For National Security" in 2021, as well as the PSF’s one-year implementation  of the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, the PFS’s one-year realization of the National Security Protection Strategy under Resolution No. 51-NQ/TW issued by the Politburo on September 5, 2019, the PSF’s three-year execution of the Politburo’s Resolution No. 22 and Decree No. 01/ND-CP promulgated by the Government on  August 6, 2018 on reorganization of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

Additionally, the event is also to listen to a report on the project to build pure, strong, professional, elite, and modernized PSF in the new context.

The 2022 emulation movement "For National Security" will be launched at the end of the event.

The significant event of the PSF saw the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, leaders of the army, other ministries, Central-level agencies, Party Central Committee’s commissions, former and current leaders of the PSF, among representatives of all agencies under the MPS and provincial-level police departments.

In 2021, the security situation has been fluid in the world and the Southeast Asian region with rapid and unpredictable changes while COVID with new, dangerous variants has continued spreading across the world, seriously impacting international security and national security of countries.

The year has also marked momentous events of the country, including the 13th National Party Congress and the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term.

In this context, under the sound leadership of the Party and State and with the close coordination of the People's Army, Central-level agencies, ministries and authorities at all levels, the PSF have fulfilled their main task of ensuring security and safety, contributing to domestic political stability, national socio-economic development and foreign relations.

According to reports, the PSF have proactively grasped the grassroots-level situation and advised the Party and State to issue important policies, approaches to ensure socio-economic development and external relations, as well as quickly controlled the pandemic and flexibly turned the country to a new normal state, living with COVID-19 flexibly and safely. During the COVID outbreaks, the PSF participated effectively in both preventing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and maintaining security and order, controlling crimes across the country.

Regarding crime prevention and control, in 2021, the PSF successfully investigated 36,040 criminal cases related to social order, 86.37%  of the total number , of which serious cases reached 90, 26%. They also handled 134,285 crime reports, denunciations, and prosecution requests (90.12% of the total).

The police forces destroyed 1,335 criminal gangs and groups, particularly those related to "black credit", economic crimes, hi-tech crimes, drug crimes, corruption, smuggling, environment-related crime.

In particular, the police handled 4,629 cases of economic crimes involving 6,095 individuals and 22 organizations while solving 26,193 drug-related cases, arresting 38,270 drug offenders, and seizing 683.34 kg of heroin, 2,764.06 kg of meth and 2,330,888 pills of synthetic drugs and 993.87kg of cannabis.

Remarkably, the MPS completed and put into operation the National Database on Population and the system of production, issuance, and management of chip-based ID cards. Later, local police units successfully carried out an intensive campaign to issue 50 million ID cards and generate personal identification numbers for citizens nationwide.

Meanwhile, the National Database on Population is now connected with qualified networks of various ministries and agencies and is effectively used to manage citizens’ information at service of elections, census and the current fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, a number of public security officers and soldiers have sacrificed their lives for the cause of protecting national security and social order, fighting crimes, and serving the people. They are the bright examples of the PSF and their great service has been recognized and praised by the people, the Party, and the Government.

The conference agreed that, after three years of implementing directions of the Politburo and the Government on reorganizing the PSF’s apparatus, the MPS without middle-level has worked effectively while the policy on deploying more public security officers to local-level units has proved to be efficient and fruitful.

During the reorganization program, the MPS assigned more tasks and decentralized power to lower-level agencies and units; as a result, grassroots-level units and combat units  have worked more effectively, contributing to ensuring public order and security.

Addressing the conference, on behalf of the Party’s and State’s leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh recognized, the PSF had attained more achievements this year than last year.

He also praised public security officers and soldiers for their effort and high sense of responsibility in overcoming various difficulties and challenges to work on the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Chinh showed consensus on the breakthroughs and key tasks mentioned in the MPS reports and the draft resolution of the conference. He added that the PSF and their operation must always be put under the absolute and comprehensive leadership of the Party and the management of the State, thus contributing effectively to promoting socio-economic development, maintaining political stability and stepping up the fight against “internal enemies”, firmly safeguarding national defense-security, protecting Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity, and pursuing the country’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralisation of international relations.

The PSF were required to actively grasp the security situation in the country and advice the Party and State to craft timely directions and approaches, especially strategic advice, so as to always hold the initiative while preventing the country from being in a strategic disadvantage or surprise, and denying any threats to national security, national interests. The PSF must always be on alert to foil all sabotage plots and activities by hostile and reactionary forces.

“Each revolutionary public security officer must place national interests and people’s interests above their own in any circumstance, always uphold their virtues and firm political mettle, strive to serve as a “sharp sword” and “solid shield” of the Party, State, and people, thus deserving the Party, State and people’s expectation and affection for them”, Prime Minister stressed.

* Before the opening of the conference, a delegation of the PSCPC and the MPS led by General To Lam paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his memorial hall in the MPS headquarters. Major General Le-Tan Toi, Member of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Defense and Security, joined the delegation. The delegation laid a wreath with the phase on it "Forever grateful to the great President Ho Chi Minh".