Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security plans to revive the former “Thief Hunters”, a specialized police unit known for taking on the country's most dangerous criminals.
At a press conference on Monday, ministry official Lieutenant General Le Van De told reporters the crime-fighting unit would be reinstated on a trial basis in Hanoi and Saigon before potentially being expanded to other areas, reports Tuoi Tre.
The original Thief Hunters team dates back to 1975, when the country was newly unified. During this time, the group fought armed gangs, murderers, thieves and kidnappers with little to no oversight and were exempted from certain civilian requirements, such as obeying traffic laws when pursuing a suspect.
Members of the crime-fighting unit, all under 30 years of age, were also “granted privileges in their selection of weaponry and their use of certain methods of apprehending offenders,” writes Tuoi Tre.
The news outlet continues: “Additionally, when in pursuit of wanted criminals, the ‘hunters’ were permitted to shoot down their targets after two warning shots.”
The Thief Hunters were ultimately disbanded after the law which permitted them to operate was amended.
Now, however, the Ministry of Public Security will reinstate this group, though officials are calling for a thorough legal study of the program before its implementation.
“It would be difficult to the form the old team with [the same] previous authorization, as it would be against the law,” Lt. Gen. De told Tuoi Tre. “For example, current regulations stipulate that law enforcers cannot jump red lights while pursuing their targets.”
In the meantime, Major General Luong Tam Quang, deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security, told the media over 21,000 criminal offenses were uncovered in the first half of 2016. As the country's criminal activity grows “more complicated, more sophisticated and more reckless”, according to Major Gen. Quang, law enforcement authorities are taking bigger steps to combat these issues.
[Photo via Nerdist]
