Authorities in Henan Province have decided to open a new cemetery, reserved for police officers who have been killed in the line of duty or died in illness. They will be laid to rest in honor and at no expense to their families, the provincial Public Security Bureau revealed on April 23.

According to Qi Tao, director of the provincial Police Martyr Fund, the cemetery will accommodate nearly 20,000 graves and will be wholly paid for by the provincial funeral association bureau and local non-governmental organizations. The Henan Police Cemetery, the first of its kind in China, is already being built in the capital, Zhengzhou.

Statistics put at 3900 the number of police injured in the province since 1995, with 330 fatalities. 25 lost their lives in the line during 2006. 

In some foreign countries as well as in Hong Kong and Macao, police departments have built memorial cemeteries which help officers honor the memories of their fallen comrades. In many cases, raw recruits take a pledge in the cemetery to be inspired by the sacrifice of those that preceded them. 

In the past six years, China has lost 2,718 police officers, according to the Ministry of Public Security. In 2006, overworking and fatal traffic accidents accounted for 81 percent of police deaths, accounting for 322 fatalities between them.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Yunxing, April 25, 2007)