Abstract: The urban social security prevention model during the transition period lacks long-term effectiveness and cannot adapt to the current dynamic social security needs. Starting from the goals of improving the social security system, establishing a new policing concept, and constructing a diversified supply model for the social security system in the new era, this paper analyzes the factors restricting the development of the social security system during the social transition period and proposes corresponding countermeasures from three aspects: infrastructure construction, macro-command system construction, and support system construction of the urban social security system.
Currently, due to the increasingly prominent imbalance of interests caused by the differentiation of interests and the social security problems brought about by the large floating population, my country's public security risks remain relatively prominent. The number of various public security cases has increased significantly, public security disasters and accidents occur frequently, and mass security incidents are emerging one after another. Faced with such a severe economic and public security situation, the public security organs are powerless to effectively deal with crime by relying solely on any one of the means of cracking down, preventing, and controlling. To effectively maintain social security and stability, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of "crackdown and rectification," solve the prominent social security problems, and make every effort to improve the social security system.
I. Objectives of Improving the Urban Social Security Prevention and Control System
The goal of improving the social security system is to establish a new policing philosophy and build a social security system with a diversified supply model. It should prioritize crime prevention, replacing a purely management-oriented approach with a service-and-management approach. While ensuring the government's leading role, the system should involve private individuals, businesses, communities, and the third sector. Through market-based mechanisms, the government can be relieved of unlimited responsibility in providing public goods. The government and operating enterprises should establish clear responsibilities based on economic contracts, and scientific management and supervision should be conducted according to operable performance indicators, achieving streamlined and efficient government departments. Public security organs should comprehensively integrate all public security resources, including police force, equipment, facilities, and information. Coordination and collaboration among units and departments are essential to organically integrate means of combating, preventing, controlling, and managing crime, achieving optimal resource allocation, effectively strengthening the collaborative capabilities of various police units, and fundamentally changing the current situation where police units operate independently, lack synergy, and there is a lack of information communication and unified command and dispatch among departments.
II. Factors Restricting the Development of the Social Security System During the Social Transition Period
(I) Increased Incentives for Crime and Public Security Cases: With the deepening of reforms and adjustments in interests, various deep-seated social contradictions have become more prominent during the social transformation period, triggering numerous social problems, including public security issues, primarily concentrated in cities. On the one hand, the disorderly influx of a large number of migrant workers into cities has placed enormous pressure on urban security management. On the other hand, weaknesses and loopholes in urban social management itself have led to a significant increase in incentives for crime. Statistics show that nearly 50% of criminal cases in a certain city occur annually within various business establishments, and over 80% of public security cases are related to these establishments. Managing and effectively controlling these establishments has become a top priority for maintaining public security.
(II) The organization and management of the social security system are imperfect. Most agencies have not adequately addressed the issue of ideological understanding, viewing the improvement of the prevention and control system as a "soft task," believing it requires too much police manpower and investment, and that "nine out of ten prevention efforts are fruitless," making it easier to achieve results than solving cases. The improvement of the prevention and control system has not been well integrated with local realities; the formulation of plans lacks comprehensive and detailed consideration; there are few daily drills between different police units, resulting in weak mutual support and joint combat capabilities. In particular, the management of entertainment venues such as internet cafes, hotels, and bars involves multiple departments, including industry and commerce, fire protection, culture, and public security. Due to this fragmented management, the various departments cannot form a unified force for combating crime, making effective management difficult. Statistics show that due to inadequate publicity and incentive measures, insufficient investment from relevant industries, and untimely installation of prevention and control facilities in key areas, the social security prevention and control capabilities are weak. In property-related criminal cases, crimes committed by the floating population account for more than 70% of the total number of cases.
(III) The social security system suffers from an imperfect operational mechanism and a lack of unified information network construction, resulting in a failure to form a cohesive information resource pool. Information network construction has not yet started from the "top level," lacking a unified information exchange platform. Information collected by various departments is limited to internal processing, hindering information sharing and leading to biased analysis, judgment, and prediction. This fails to effectively support leadership decision-making and results in duplication and waste. Furthermore, it creates obstacles for the public in reporting emergencies, leaving them unsure which emergency number to call first. Currently, although the "three-in-one" system has been implemented, the system remains incomplete. Dispatch and command lack scientific rigor and standardization, with no established rules or regulations. In some areas, unified dispatch and command are still achieved through tacit understanding or simple agreements between various police forces, resulting in a vague mechanism. When problems arise, there is often buck-passing and unclear responsibility, impacting the efficiency of incident handling to varying degrees.
(iv) The imperfections in the social security system's safeguard mechanisms: In terms of organizational safeguards, a coordinated mechanism has not been established, and there is a lack of a comprehensive, permanent, and authoritative body responsible for emergency command and daily management. Prevention work overemphasizes the role of the public security organs alone, with other departments merely reacting passively. There is a lack of government-led participation from the entire society, resulting in poor communication of emergency management directives, delayed implementation of decisions, departmental obstruction, lack of coordination, and a serious waste of social security resources, thus reducing the emergency response capability. In terms of judicial safeguards, there is currently no law that clearly defines and regulates the urban social security system. In terms of financial safeguards, investment in the construction of the urban social security system is insufficient, and funding is difficult to guarantee, making it difficult to meet the needs of combating highly sophisticated crimes under the new circumstances.
(V) Insufficient social participation in the social security system. Currently, there are misconceptions among the public regarding the construction of the social security system. Many people believe that public security is solely the responsibility of the public security organs, and thus their participation is not proactive. The construction of the social security system is basically limited to the administrative management level led by the government, and the construction work of various non-governmental organizations is very weak. This results in a weak foundation for the system and poor control capabilities, leading some departments to fail to accurately identify their position in the construction of the social security system and to fail to fully utilize their functional roles. Some enterprises have a tendency to prioritize economic interests over security precautions, and their internal prevention systems, personnel, funding, and measures are not implemented. Many people lack self-defense awareness and have poor self-defense capabilities.
III. Strategies for Improving the Urban Social Security Prevention and Control System
(I) Strengthening the basic construction of the social security system The construction of the social security system is a systematic project, mainly composed of five networks: street patrol and prevention, community security, checkpoint inspection and control, internal unit prevention and control, and technical prevention and monitoring. These five networks are self-contained and mutually supportive, maintaining the same plane and forming a comprehensive prevention and control system with strict, stable and long-term functions that combines points, lines and surfaces.
(II) Establishing a macro-command system for the social security system The social security system is a complex system engineering project. Its effective operation must be based on a comprehensive, multi-level, dynamic and open macro-command system (including a social control system and a social comprehensive governance system) led by the government and with social participation, and an active and effective working mechanism.
1. Strengthening and Improving the Social Control System. First, implement dynamic and proactive social control. Addressing the psychological imbalances caused by adjustments in the distribution of interests during social transformation, this involves coordinating social interest relationships, rebuilding a rational social interest structure, and establishing a new balance of interests and social fairness. Through moral evaluation and public opinion supervision, strengthen moral control mechanisms to form a stable new moral order consistent with the socialist market economy. By providing correct guidance on social behavior and values, advocate scientific, civilized, and healthy consumption and lifestyles to foster a positive social atmosphere. Second, rationally advance the evaluation, decision-making, and integration processes for the effective operation of social control. Through social evaluation, gain a correct and reasonable understanding of the current state and trends of social development, grasp the development trends of social contradictions and problems, prevent the escalation of social contradictions, and strengthen early warning functions. Based on objective evaluation, proactively formulate plans and various social policies to achieve social development goals, and make scientific decisions to create favorable conditions for new integration on a new foundation.
2. Promoting the reform of the police work mechanism and the construction of the social security system involves all police units and departments. Following the principle of "focusing on specific areas and fulfilling responsibilities within their assigned territories," each unit must accurately identify its position and fulfill its corresponding duties. While emphasizing individual responsibilities, it is essential to prioritize the overall effectiveness of public security work and social order, streamline relationships, and establish a comprehensive prevention and control posture. This should be achieved through various means, including partnerships between individual police officers, joint operations between different police departments, and coordinated efforts between higher-level and lower-level units. The traditional administrative work model and work schedule of grassroots units should be broken down, maximizing the deployment of limited police and prevention resources to streets, communities, and high-crime times and areas, forming a 24/7 prevention and control system to enhance the targeting and effectiveness of prevention and control work. Furthermore, a sound mechanism for preventing and handling mass incidents should be established, information sources expanded, various destabilizing factors promptly identified, and conflict resolution efforts diligently undertaken to alleviate social conflicts at their source and prevent mass incidents.
(III) Establishing a Guarantee System for Social Security 1. Improving Organizational Guarantees and Strengthening Police Force Allocation: By establishing organizational leadership structures, clarifying responsibilities, and ensuring each entity fulfills its duties, we can strengthen the implementation of streamlined organizations, rationally allocate police force, and decentralize police resources, prioritizing support policies for grassroots and frontline operational departments. Introducing Market Mechanisms and Integrating Auxiliary Police Resources: This can address the severe shortage of police force allocation from outside the public security organs, changing the existing structure and allocation ratio of police resources, thereby concentrating regular police officers on more critical tasks, forming the main body of the social security system together with regular police. Integrating Civilian Resources: Fully tapping into social resources, mobilizing and organizing community party members, cadres, security volunteers, retirees, and low-income individuals to voluntarily carry out various forms of community defense and security activities such as community protection and building security, thus laying a solid foundation for the construction of the social security system.
2. Increase Investment in the Construction of the Social Security System. Building a city's social security system is a massive, systematic project involving significant human, financial, and material resources, especially the acquisition of advanced technological security equipment, which requires substantial funding. Practice shows that relying solely on government funding is insufficient. It is necessary to adapt to the requirements of market economic development, adhering to the principles of "market-oriented operation, enterprise-style management, socialized services, and industrial development," integrating resources from all parties, fully tapping potential, and forming a comprehensive prevention and control system involving the entire population and the entire police force. First, establish a funding guarantee system with tiered allocations from central and local governments. Second, widely solicit social funds to improve resource utilization efficiency. Third, integrate technological resources to enhance the technological content of the social security system.
3. Strengthen Supervision and Implement the Responsibility System. The urban social security system is a social and systematic project involving many aspects, including public engagement, law enforcement, and inter-departmental cooperation. Strengthening supervision and checks and balances is essential. This includes improving and implementing the comprehensive urban social security management target responsibility system, leadership responsibility system, veto power system, and reporting and investigation system for major social security cases. Internal supervision should be required within each member unit of the prevention and control system to improve the sense of responsibility, policy and theoretical understanding, law enforcement quality, and law enforcement capabilities of staff in all participating departments and units. Supervision should be conducted through disciplinary inspection and supervision departments and people's congresses and political consultative conferences at all levels, and various feedback channels should be used to strengthen responsibility targets and integrate security work into daily administrative management and production and operation goals. Furthermore, a scientific evaluation and incentive mechanism should be further established and improved. The assessment of the prevention and control work process should be combined with the assessment of results, with results assessment as the main focus, to ensure the objectivity and fairness of the evaluation work.
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