“Auntie, please calm down first; we'll address whatever issue you have.” Recently, in a Tea field in Maoba Town, Lichuan City, officers from the Maoba Police Station promptly mediated a dispute over tea picking that arose from an argument.
To promote the sustained development of the tea industry in Maoba Town and protect the legitimate rights and interests of tea farmers, merchants, and enterprises, the Maoba Police Station of Lichuan Public Security Bureau adheres to the leadership of Party building. It fully leverages its public security functions by engaging closely with tea farmers and enterprises, actively creating a high-quality business environment, and fully safeguarding the high-quality development of the tea industry in Maoba Town, contributing to rural revitalization through concrete actions.
Being a Development “Escort”
Wherever economic development reaches, police work extends.
The development of the industry cannot be separated from a stable public security environment. The Maoba Police Station, based on the local conditions, focuses on the tea industry to establish “tea protection policing.” This approach targets the entire tea industry chain, from planting and picking to processing and sales, providing comprehensive services and guarantees for the development of the tea industry.
Police officers and auxiliary police personnel adhere to the principle of “managing daily, helping daily, and being strict in routine,” firmly rooted in the fields and tea factories. They comprehensively understand the operating status of tea enterprises, production in tea factories, and tea farming by farmers in the jurisdiction. From tea farmers to tea enterprises, the Maoba Police Station dedicates itself wholeheartedly. Every month, it organizes police officers and auxiliary police to enter tea enterprises, factories, and tea fields for safety production guidance. They conduct visits and discussions at various tea bases and factories to understand the situation of production and operations, help enterprises and the public solve practical difficulties, and create a good social public security environment for the development of the tea industry in Maoba Town.
Maintaining Order as “Protectors”
Wherever there is a need from tea farmers, police support follows.
Every year, around the Qingming Festival, it is the critical season for tea farmers to pick tea, also the busiest time of the year for tea enterprises in Maoba Town. These enterprises concentrate on purchasing and processing the tea leaves picked by farmers every day.
To protect this “leaf of prosperity,” the Maoba Police Station insists on “police work revolves around tea fields, and officers revolve around tea farmers.” Based on the scale of each tea field in the jurisdiction, they proactively intervene and take initiative. They establish a “Police Station + Village Committee” joint patrol model. Police officers and auxiliary police personnel patrol the tea fields at irregular intervals, while village committee officials focus on daily monitoring. They screen for all kinds of disputes to ensure that situations are understood in real-time and prevent conflicts from escalating.
In addition, the Maoba Police Station widely collects opinions and suggestions, listens to the needs of tea enterprises and farmers, participates in planning and strategizing, and helps tea enterprises coordinate with tea farmers in advance to eliminate potential disputes and maintain transaction order. With a “zero-tolerance” attitude, it severely cracks down on criminal activities such as forced buying and selling that disrupt transaction order, protecting the legal rights and interests of both buyers and sellers and promoting mutual development between tea enterprises and farmers.
On March 31st, the tea trading market in Maoba Town opened for the first time. On the opening day, officers arrived at their posts according to the plan and carried out security work in an orderly manner. Under the orderly command of the officers, the trading went smoothly until its conclusion. The successful completion of this tea trade added new vitality to the development of the tea industry in Maoba Town, not only standardizing the tea trading process but also further optimizing the environment of the tea trading market in the area.
Ensuring Traffic Safety as “Guardians”
The terrain in Maoba Town is steep with significant altitude changes. Tea fields are mostly distributed along National Highway 242 and village roads, with many bends, narrow roads, and steep slopes leading into the tea fields. During the new tea season, traffic between tea farmers and merchants is frequent, making traffic safety a major task for the Maoba Police Station.
The Maoba Police Station strengthens source supervision, conducting early investigations of tea enterprises and factories to timely understand labor scales and travel needs. It urges the reasonable use of transportation tools, conducts a thorough “health check” on vehicles and drivers transporting tea pickers, and implements primary responsibility to eliminate safety hazards from the source, ensuring the safety of the tea pickers' travel.
Aimed at the habit of tea pickers going out early and returning late, the Maoba Police Station strictly enforces traffic laws on mountain roads leading to tea mountains and fields in the jurisdiction, cracking down on overloading, unlicensed driving, drunk driving, and failure to wear helmets, forming a strict management situation to ensure safe and smooth traffic during tea picking. They also conduct face-to-face traffic safety education with tea farmers and the public, calling on everyone to continuously enhance their awareness of traffic safety and jointly safeguard traffic safety.
Preventing Fraud as “Educators”
During the tea harvest season, cases frequently occur, with criminals often targeting farmers for fraud. In the face of various new fraud methods, even a momentary lapse of attention can lead to being cheated. The Maoba Police Station organizes forces to go up the tea mountains, into the fields, and into tea enterprises to educate the public and businesses about anti-fraud and safety knowledge, continuously pushing for effective anti-fraud education.
Building harmonious police-civilian relationships through tea is a practice summarized by the Maoba Police Station based on the local tea town's characteristics. Each time they conduct anti-fraud publicity, officers use popular and down-to-earth methods to carry out anti-fraud publicity and policy dissemination.
“Auntie, there are so many new shoots this year; there must be a good harvest! Please take care of the money you've worked hard to earn. Don't believe any strange calls or messages asking you to pay!” Chief Mou Tao said while helping the tea farmers pick tea in the field.
Since 2024, the Maoba Police Station has conducted more than 20 anti-fraud publicity campaigns in the countryside, covering more than 1,000 people across 15 administrative villages, firmly guarding the “money bags” of the people.