|
Vietnam The Police
Police functions, such as routine crime detection,
apprehension of suspects, and enforcement of judicial orders,
were vested in two elements that differed both conceptually and
functionally. The PSF was a law enforcement agency in the same
sense as the term is used in the West. It operated chiefly in
urban rather than in rural areas and was first established in
1962. Its purpose was "to execute the laws of the state, maintain
public order and security, protect public property, protect the
lives and property of individuals, and prevent juvenile
delinquency." These functions were expanded and made more
specific in 1972, and again in 1976, by National Assembly
directives authorizing the PSF to "arrest, temporarily detain,
and temporarily release suspects; search people, homes,
belongings, and mail; temporarily hold evidence; issue
identification certificates, travel permits, and other documents;
motivate citizens to observe the law and security measures; stop
acts of sabotage; prevent juvenile delinquency; give aid to
victims of accidents, including commandeering transportation to
perform this function; and punish or carry out other compulsory
measures against those who infringe on public order and security
regulations." Fire fighting was also administered by the PSF.
Members of the PSF were admonished to "serve the people
wholeheartedly, show bravery, and constantly demonstrate
responsibility, revolutionary vigilance, and political and
military professionalism."
The second unit was the PASF, a combination of gendarmerie
and police field force, which operated chiefly in the villages
and rural areas. The PASF had a broader security function than
the PSF, since its concern extended beyond criminal and illegal
political activity to insurgency threats and transprovincial
organized counterrevolutionary activity. It was a hybrid security
institution composed of party security cadres and PAVN personnel
whose duties were in a gray area between ordinary police work and
guerrilla warfare. The PASF was similar to the militia of the
Soviet Union, with a domain described as "inland security," and
functioned both as a protective and investigative body. PASF
units guarded defense-industry installations, state and party
offices, communication facilities, and important economic centers
and supplied bodyguards for high-level officials. It was also
charged with handling antigovernment conspiracies requiring
sensitive political investigations and with investigating
intraprovincial crimes such as counterfeiting, smuggling, and
hijacking.
PASF was created in March 1959 by combining several small
party- security and PAVN special units. From the start it had a
semimilitary character. In 1960, the Third National Party
Congress assigned it the "leading mission of defense against
counterrevolution" and stressed the political character of its
work, which in part meant activities designed to make security
measures more acceptable to the general public through what was
termed PASF's "people-motivating mission." Its formation also
relieved PAVN regular forces of certain border and coastal
static-defense duties. In the decade that followed unification in
1976, it became something of a catch-all security institution.
The structure of the PASF was quasi-military--that is, it was
organized by battalions and companies with administrative centers
in provincial capitals. In 1987 the PASF was estimated to have at
least 500 personnel in each province, with a total strength of at
least 21,000. It was more heavily armed and more mobile than
ordinary police.
The PASF headquarters in Hanoi was in a Ministry of Interior
building, once the Don Thuy French Military Barracks on Hang Bai
Street. It was divided into eight bureaus. The first handled
administration, including personnel, supply, and housing. The
second maintained criminal records and handled correspondence.
The third was responsible for the Hanoi capital area and
supervised crime detection, fire fighting, traffic control and
issuance of identity cards. The fourth conducted investigations,
including interrogations. The fifth handled incarceration of
persons under arrest, including their detention while awaiting
trial. The sixth controlled political and indoctrination
training, as well as internal police affairs. The seventh handled
budget and fiscal matters for the organization, and the eighth
managed communication surveillance, censored mail, and controlled
unauthorized publications.
PAVN's function is dual in nature, having been derived from
the French concept of police duty, introduced in the colonial
period, and the Soviet Union's idea of militia. It rests on the
belief that all challenges to the regime should be treated as
law-enforcement rather than military problems. Even in the
suppression of insurgency movements such as FULRO, PAVN's
responsibilities were carried out as an exercise in law
enforcement rather than as a military enterprise.
PAVN shared command responsibilities with the Ministry of
Interior over a host of specific police organizations, including
Regional Police Force units operating out of the country's forty
provincial capitals; the Border-Control Police or Port-of-Entry
Police, established by the Ministry of Interior in 1981; and
Naval Security units, which used armed civilian fishing boats to
apprehend persons illegally leaving the country. In theory, all
such organizations functioned under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Interior. Their place in PAVN's organizational
structure, however, remained ambiguous.
Deputized, nonprofessional law-enforcement units were
reportedly numerous, but they were only vaguely described in
press reports. They included the People's Protection Squads
(active in both street-patrol work and fire fighting), the
Enterprise Protection Force (active in factories, government
buildings, and communes), the Municipal Security Protection Force
(active in major cities), the Neighborhood Protection Civil Guard
Agency, the Capital Security Youth Assault Units, the Township
Public Security Force, and the Civil Defense Force. Many of the
personnel in these units served concurrently with the
Paramilitary Force.
In addition, PAVN elements were detailed to police duty,
usually on a temporary basis, and assigned chiefly in the South
and along the China border. Their primary responsibilities in
these areas were the prevention of smuggling and of illegal
departures or entries.
The Ministry of Interior divided Vietnam into "security
interzones," and the major cities--Hanoi, Haiphong, and Ho Chi
Minh City--were allotted separate security status. The interzone
headquarters coordinated law enforcement and internal security
work with the judiciary, local military commanders, and
provincial party officials. Each of the interzone directors (as
well as the director of the Hanoi Security Service) reported
directly to the Ministry of Interior and the Political Bureau
Secretariat.
The villages, which normally experienced little crime, had
only rudimentary law enforcement, usually in the hands of a
deputized nonprofessional working part-time and often without a
regular salary. If a major crime occurred--for example, a murder-
-it was investigated by an official sent from the provincial
capital.
The function of the nonprofessional deputized law-enforcement
officer, indeed even his existence, was not formally established
or codified. The position of the village deputy was conceived as
a means by which local authority could organize the village to
police itself. Crime prevention and security became the
responsibility of all, under the guidance of a local figure
backed by the local party committee. This made for a pervasive
surveillance system. It could also result in inept law
enforcement and the accruing of enormous power by the deputy, who
was privy to information gathered through the surveillance
system.
Data as of December 1987
|
