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Dogs put bark in National Day security

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-04 08:10

A police dog sniffs a car tire during a drill on Tuesday in Shenyang, Liaoning province before being sent to Beijing. A total of 12 trained police dogs from the province have been chosen to help provide security during the National Day celebrations on Oct 1 in Beijing. [China Daily]

Security forces patrolling the National Day celebrations on Oct 1 just got a little more bite.

More than a hundred police dogs will accompany security groups to ensure that celebrations on Oct 1 run smoothly, according to the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao newspaper.

The canines, selected from across the country, arrived in Beijing this week to be trained on how to detect bombs, perform in search and rescue missions and detect narcotics.

During the 60th annual National Day of the People's Republic of China, the dogs will aid police in combating terrorism and emergencies. Most of the dogs assisted authorities during last year's Beijing Olympics.

Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu said that the security level during the National Day will surpass the security level during the Olympic Games.

In addition to patrol dogs, tens of thousands of armed policemen will guard major sites and streets.

Several thousand Chinese People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) troops will make security checks, and guard against and prevent any terrorist attacks in the capital.

Outside the capital, armed police in Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and Shandong have also been ordered to tighten security measures during the National Day.

General Wu Shuangzhan, commander of the 660,000-strong PAPF, asked the troops to prepare for the worst situation with detailed plans and high-pressure special training, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

Every day, around 7,000 policemen are on patrol in the capital and about 1.4 million volunteers will participate in the security work during the golden week of the 60th National Day.

Full Coverage:  60th Anniversary of PRC Related readings:  Police chief urges top security for National Day  Public security department joins polite driving campaign  Preparation for the celebrations of National Day  5 types of missiles to debut on National Day  Armed police deployed for National Day

To ensure the safety of the capital's international airport, armed police were also sent to the airport's three terminals since the end of last month to check suspicious passengers.

Besides animal and people, advanced technologies will also do contributions to National Day security.

All the guns to be used in the National Day parade will be locked in fingerprint-access locks connected with remote computers that can tell when the guns are taken and by whom.

Cameras are also installed in many bus stations to ensure the security of public transportation.

Since yesterday, any package with liquid will be refused to be mailed by the capital's Express Mail Service and all the packages must be checked before mail.

China Daily-Xinhua