Three generations have joined the police force, with nine members donning uniforms.
Front row: Feng Yumei; Back row from left to right: Luo Guangqun, Luo Junjie, and Liu Shusui.
At 88 years old, Feng Yumei, who served in public security for 30 years after moving south with the army, donned her old police uniform with a smile. Both she and her late husband were veteran police officers. Three of their daughters are police officers, as are two of their sons-in-law.
Three years ago, her grandson put on a police uniform, and now another grandson has passed the police examination, making him a probationary officer.
In this family of at least nine police officers spanning three generations, every type of People's Police uniform is represented. The family includes members involved in criminal investigation, police stations, command centers, water police, entry-exit management, and even international policing!
Written by reporter Chen Xiang and correspondent Zhang Yitao
Photos by reporter Huang Chengfeng
**First Generation**
Refusing Assigned Drivers
The day before yesterday, at the police dormitory on Liurong Road in Guangzhou, 88-year-old Feng Yumei donned an old-style police uniform and smiled broadly. In 1954, Feng Yumei was transferred from the southern-bound forces to the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, where she worked in the Liwan District branch until retiring as deputy political commissar. Her late husband, Liu Erlu, also worked at the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, specializing in security work, and retired as deputy director of the Political Department of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.
"Be honest, contribute more," was the family motto set by Liu Erlu and Feng Yumei. Although Liu Erlu's rank entitled him to a car and driver, he firmly declined, choosing instead to walk or ride a bicycle to and from work every day. Even half a century later, elderly people still seek out his grandchildren, praising him: "Your grandfather was an excellent police officer!"
In 1983, the two elders retired honorably. Liu Erlu passed away in 1999. Now in good health, Feng Yumei believes that while public security has developed and law enforcement concepts have progressed, the awareness of serving the people and the principle of being rooted in the community continue to be upheld.
**Second Generation**
Three Sisters Become Police Officers
The daughters of the Liu family also chose the path of service over glamour. Liu Shusui recalled that when she first started working, she was involved in political work. At the time, it was difficult to recruit young people as police officers in the city because the job was arduous and the pay was low. They often had to recruit from rural areas in Guangdong and other provinces.
Because both parents were police officers, Liu Shusui was raised by nannies from a young age. During the hardest times, thirteen or fourteen-year-old Liu Shusui lived independently with her two younger sisters. Life fostered the strong character of the Liu sisters and deepened their love for the police profession.
Liu Shusui's husband, Luo Guangqun, has a square face and looks very much like a police officer. He currently works at the Qiaozhong Police Station. Luo Guangqun said that the most distinctive feature of this police family is everyone's firm belief that justice will always prevail over evil. "When we gathered for meals in the past, sometimes we would mention social ills, but our in-laws would always correct us, saying that the bad parts were small compared to the good."
**Third Generation**
Armed and Ready to Capture Suspects
Luo Junjie, Luo Guangqun's son, is 27 years old and was once the youngest police officer in this police family. However, that title no longer belongs to him—his cousin has recently passed the exam and will soon join the Guangzhou police force. Luo Junjie said that when he first became a police officer in 2006, the happiest person in the family was his grandmother. "She was absolutely thrilled. Before that, she had been worried about there being no successor in the family, but now that I've become a police officer, I’ve taken up the mantle."
Luo Junjie himself was eager to become a police officer. He graduated in 2006 from the Computer Science department at Guangdong University of Technology, then successfully applied to the Public Security Bureau and was assigned to the plainclothes investigative unit. After undergoing rigorous physical training, the "too refined and never having fought anyone" Luo Junjie found himself on the front lines of ambushes, investigations, and arrests. Initially, his mother couldn't sleep well because whenever the phone rang in the middle of the night, it meant there was a task. Plainclothes duties always involved getting close to suspects and making arrests, which are inherently dangerous and unpredictable. The older generation of police officers in the family fully understood these risks, so during the early days, whenever Luo Junjie went out on duty at night, his family stayed awake until dawn.
Soon, the successor of this police family grew into his role. Luo Junjie's team specialized in combating street crime. Over the course of more than a month, he and his colleagues tracked a van, starting at 4 a.m. each day, traveling between Panyu, Shenzhen, and Foshan, eventually uncovering a 12-member criminal gang. In May 2007, armed and ready, Luo Junjie drove with his colleagues to stop the van on Liuhua Road. He then jumped out of the car, tackled the suspect, and pinned them down, completely dismantling the criminal gang.