Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 372 - 264 "Incognito Visit" (Part 3)

"Report to the leaders, the long-distance bus station cannot be left unattended, I need to hurry over to be on duty."

"Director Chen, Director Dong, the water checkpoint also cannot be left unattended."

Old Ding and Comrade Old Zhang were both about to retire and didn’t like receiving leaders younger than themselves, put on an embarrassed and anxious look, requesting to leave.

Director Chen turned to look and said with a smile: "Work is important, go ahead and be busy."

"Yes!"

Both of them saluted with their hands, then turned their heads and gave Han Yu a meaningful glance, walking away without looking back.

Old Yan hurried to follow. Xiao Yu wanted to leave but didn’t dare, so she simply went with Zhu Baogen to change into work clothes, get the tools, and carry out the routine inspection and maintenance on 001.

To Yu Zhen, the real "leaders" were the customers, who had sneaked away a long time ago. On the dunship, only Han Yu was left, without even someone to make tea.

Han Yu had no choice but to stiffly invite the city bureau leaders to the second-floor command and dispatch room.

Director Chen didn’t go upstairs but said indifferently: "Friend Salted Fish, we haven’t seen the lower levels yet, let’s take a look below first."

Han Yu didn’t expect the city bureau leaders to be so interested in the dunship and quickly said: "Yes, leaders, this way please, this is our squadron’s duty room, opposite the corridor is the duty room for the Port Supervision Bureau Third Team, that side are the kitchen and water room, these few rooms are the dwellings for the auxiliary police and Uncle Qian..."

Both duty rooms had very simple office furniture, with only two old desks and a few old chairs, but the walls were filled with pennants.

Director Chen picked up a dunship maintenance manual and flipped through it, then raised his head to look at the iron door in the corner and asked: "What’s behind that door?"

"Reporting to Director Chen, that’s the staircase, leading down to the bottom of the ship."

"There are cabins below?"

"Yes, several of them."

"Open the door, take us down to have a look."

What’s there to see down there...

Han Yu really couldn’t figure it out, but since the city bureau leaders had spoken, he could only take out the keys to open door after door, while leading the leaders on a tour and reporting on the squadron’s status.

"After the police station was downgraded to a squadron, there are currently three police officers, three auxiliary police, with only one auxiliary police who is not a crew member; all the others have Seaman’s Certificates and have obtained the Certificate of Competence for either Third-class Inland River Ship or Fourth-class Inland River Ship for Chief Officer, Second Officer, Mechanical Engineer, or Mechanical Driver, and have all participated in firefighter qualification training and examinations."

"Leaders, this is our mechanical repair workshop, this side is the spare parts storage room, and if our law enforcement vessels have minor malfunctions, we can fix them ourselves. This is the power generation room, as rural electricity supply is unstable, even more so on the river than on the shore, and it often goes out during wind and rain. The dunship and 001 are anchored on the river, and by regulations must display the proper light and signal signals, so we need power generation during outages."

This doesn’t look like a water police squadron, it seems a bit like a shipping company.

Director Chen was flipping through the equipment maintenance records hanging on the rack, and curiously asked: "Friend Salted Fish, do you have an electrician?"

"Reporting to Director Chen, we do not have a full-time electrician, but Comrade Liang Xiaoyu and I both have electrician certificates."

"Are you a Chief Officer or Second Officer?"

"I am the Chief Officer, I have a Certificate of Competence for Unlimited Navigation Over 5000 Gross Ton Ships as Chief Officer, a Third-class Inland River Ship Chief Officer Certificate, and an Inland River Third-level Pilot Certificate."

"You can pilot ocean-going ships?"

"I have served on nearshore passenger ships, nearshore cargo ships, and far-sea container ships."

"Aren’t you a police officer?"

"I am a police officer, always have been a police officer. My mentor, the first police station chief of Yanjiang Police Station, felt that our public security system should not always lack police officers who can fix and pilot ships, so through Binjiang Port Police Station, which is now the Changhang Bureau, I was sent on an exchange program to the East Sea Shipping Public Security Bureau to study ship piloting and engineering technology as an onboard police."

Director Chen didn’t expect a grassroots police station chief to have such foresight, and instinctively asked, "How many years did you study on ocean-going vessels?"

"Four years."

"In four years, you got a Chief Officer certificate, and in four years, you qualified as a pilot. Friend Salted Fish, you study very hard and learn very fast."

"Reporting to Director Chen, I am a graduate of the Binjiang Shipping School. In the port and navigation system, three years of secondary professional school also counts as work experience. Also, the pilot qualification was something I obtained recently; before that, I was an assistant pilot."

Director Dong suddenly remembered something and looked up with a smile: "Director Chen, Friend Salted Fish is not simple, even Vice Mayor Yu knows about him."

Director Chen asked with interest: "Friend Salted Fish, do you know Vice Mayor Yu?"

Han Yu replied without hesitation: "I don’t."

Director Dong quickly explained: "Director Chen, Friend Salted Fish may not really know Vice Mayor Yu, but he must recognize Director Tang from the Port Supervision Bureau. Binjiang Port is in urgent need of pilots, but pilots from the port and navigation system can’t be trained in a short time, just like Air Force pilots.

"Director Tang and Secretary Ni from the Port Authority knew that Friend Salted Fish had pilot qualifications and reported to Vice Mayor Yu, who is in charge of the Port Authority, and asked Vice Mayor Yu to communicate and coordinate with our bureau. At that time, Salted Fish was presumably on a temporary position in the Water Police Team, and the bureau’s party committee decided to allow the Water Police Team to agree to Friend Salted Fish taking up a concurrent pilot position."

Director Chen suddenly realized that the young man in front of him could be as valuable as the two ships, and he couldn’t help but laugh: "Friend Salted Fish, although I’m not versed in shipping, I’ve known for a long time that pilots are very impressive. You’ve actually obtained your pilot qualification, well done."

Han Yu hurriedly said, "If it weren’t for the department’s training, I would have had no chance to go to East Sea Shipping Public Security Bureau for studies."

Director Chen nodded, "Your leadership has vision and foresight. They’ve trained you well."

This matter had nothing to do with the leadership; it was my master who trained me!

Thinking further, whether it was his master’s achievements or the station’s, once summarized, they all counted as the department’s achievements. So, Han Yu straightforwardly pointed at several compartments in front of them and continued the introduction: "Leaders, that’s the power distribution room, inside are the storeroom and the warehouse for flammable materials."

"Do you have flammable materials on board?"

"Mainly paint, lubricating oil, and diesel for maintenance spare parts."

The passageway under the deck and several compartments were all very clean, and the spare parts store had clear and detailed account records. The equipment maintenance records hanging in the electric distribution and fire pump cabins showed their serious attitude toward maintenance.

Director Chen’s eyes were opened wide, as he followed Han Yu out of the engine room and into the second-floor command and dispatch room.

Unexpectedly, there were even more silk banners here, not only covering the walls of the command and dispatch room; even the adjacent meeting room was full, and many more were stuffed in the filing cabinets without space to hang.

"Since the Yanjiang Police Station was established, we’ve rescued a total of one hundred and twenty-nine vessels of various sizes, saved eighty-three people from drowning in the river, and extinguished forty-nine ship fires. Recently, Director Jin from the Port Supervision Bureau helped to calculate, and we have averted at least two hundred million yuan in economic losses."

Just recently, for the purpose of applying for funds for ship repairs, they had compiled the achievements from over the years and organized the materials.

Han Yu took out an "Achievement Ledger" from the filing cabinet and invited the leaders for inspection, while Director Chen signified for him to continue reporting as he looked through it.

"Over the past six years, we have retrieved twenty-eight bodies from the river. Among them, twelve drowned due to illegal eel fry poaching, four were those who disregarded warnings and drowned while swimming in the river, and five were crew members who accidentally fell overboard..."

"In these six years, we’ve aided Customs in capturing sixteen smuggling vessels, arresting one hundred and twenty-seven smugglers. We have apprehended four hundred and ninety-eight criminals involved in various types of waterborne crimes such as robbery, rape, intentional injury, extortion, and theft, among them, nine criminals have been sentenced to death."

"Over the years, we have seized six guns, one hundred and eighty-three bullets, and thirty-two controlled knives. To ensure safety during the Spring Festival travel rush, we have escorted the ferries on the Bainiu Line, including Bai Shen, Bai Liu, Bai Zhuang, one hundred and thirty-six times..."

The First Post of the Yangtze River, a reputation well-deserved!

If evaluated by the standards onshore for merit recognition, the certificates for first-level merit, second-class merit, and third-level merit would probably fill up this command dispatch room.

Director Chen put down the "Achievement Ledger" and, overlooking the river surface, asked, "Friend Salted Fish, after doing so much work in assistance with Port Supervision, Fishery Administration, and Customs, have they made any gesture of appreciation?"

"Reporting to Director Chen, many of our equipment is sponsored by the Port Supervision Bureau, Port Authority, and Customs. Even till today, the Port Supervision Bureau still covers some of the maintenance costs for the dunship and 001, as well as the water and electricity expenses onboard. They also carry the phone expenses."

Han Yu thought for a moment and then added, "The Port Supervision Bureau and Fishery Station even sponsored funds for the Water Police Team before, but their own budgets have become tight and they have stopped. Customs once sponsored our station with a Santana car worth over two hundred thousand yuan."

"The work you do benefits the Water Police Station?"

"We are all part of the Binjiang Water Police. It’s impossible to properly manage river security just by ourselves, so even though we’ve done quite a bit of work in the past few years, we didn’t focus on soliciting sponsorships but instead asked them to lend more support to the Water Police Station."

Director Dong knew the situation of the Water Police Station best and said, somewhat awkwardly, "Director Chen, the Water Police Station actually originated from the Yanjiang Police Station. To ensure river security, Friend Salted Fish’s master, Xu Sanye, gave full support to the then Water Branch Chief, Yu Xiangqian, contributing not only personnel and effort but also funds."

Director Chen slightly nodded, not asking further, and had Han Yu take him to see 001.

"Although 001 was converted from an old tugboat, it still remains the most professional law enforcement and firefighting rescue vessel in Binjiang Waters to this day. As the main and auxiliary engines have been in use for decades, to ensure they are always ready for action, we almost have to repair them every day."

Han Yu wouldn’t miss this chance to ask for funds. He pointed to Zhu Baogen and Liang Xiaoyu, who were frantically busy, even with oil stains on their hands and faces, and said worriedly, "The dunship has been in the water for over six years now, and it can probably only last another three or four years before needing a major overhaul. The main and auxiliary engines and the anchor mechanism of 001 must be replaced.

"As the construction of ports along the Yangtze River accelerates, with more docks, oil depots, oil pipelines, and warehouses for hazardous chemicals increasing, the fire safety hazards grow larger too. Our fire monitors are no longer meeting the requirements for firefighting safety, and our protective equipment is seriously outdated."

Director Chen, looking at the firefighting monitor on the bow, asked, "How much would it approximately cost to maintain and repair the vessels, enhance the fire-fighting equipment, and acquire new firefighting gear?"

"Ship overhaul, replacement of the main and auxiliary engines and the high-pressure fire monitors roughly need two hundred and fifty thousand yuan, and the additional personal firefighting protective gear needs about the same amount."

"Is the protective gear that expensive?"

"Reporting to Director Chen, the fires we extinguish are not ordinary ones, but water fires, and sometimes even fires or explosions caused by hazardous chemical leaks. Without advanced protective gear, if such a fire occurs, we can’t not respond, but responding means risking our lives."

Thinking of the major fires that had occurred over the past years, with casualties mostly among frontline firefighters, Director Chen was very aware that this capable young man was not exaggerating the dangers.

But that was five hundred thousand, not fifty thousand, and this investment was just the beginning, with future maintenance costs requiring continuous input.

This is a unit that could both achieve outstanding results and burn through money. The City Bureau did not have such amounts of money to invest here.

Just as Director Chen was wondering what to say, a police officer in his entourage reported that Director Yang and Commissioner Ding from Linghai Police Bureau had arrived.

"Friend Salted Fish, well done."

Director Chen patted Han Yu on the arm, jumped off 001, and as he walked down the gangway, said with a grim expression, "Director Dong, from next week onwards, the city bureau headquarters will conduct a flag-raising ceremony every Monday. All office police officers should participate."

Director Dong, truly moved by the sight of grassroots police raising the flag upon his arrival, quickly said, "Yes, I’ll send out the notice when I get back."

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