Yang Kai (second from left) and colleagues analyze a case in their office in August. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Every case concerns the vital interests of the people, and the police must take every crime seriously — that's what Yang Kai constantly tells his colleagues.

Having joined the police in 1999, the 45-year-old is captain of the criminal investigation brigade of the Jiaocheng district branch of the Ningde Public Security Bureau in the eastern province of Fujian.

In the past 23 years, the Ningde native has worked at the forefront of the fight against crime. He has overseen and participated in the investigation of more than 3,300 cases, detained over 2,000 suspects and saved the State and individuals 100 million yuan ($14 million).

In 2020, Yang became leader of the brigade, which has 52 officers and 69 auxiliary officers, and has won several awards at the provincial and national levels.

Focused on serving socioeconomic development and maintaining Ningde's stability, Yang and his colleagues combine local characteristics and frequently updated policing techniques. They also set up special teams to target violent crime, telecom fraud and other illegal activities such as theft, robbery and financial fraud.

"The continuous advance of policing reforms, cultural education and other measures mean the team always has new life. Yet, I always believe that our ability to combat crime is the core standard to test the members," he said.

Reform has produced good results. Last year, the brigade's rate of solving cases of telecom fraud rose by 39 percent compared with the average in the previous three years. The team had a 100 percent success rate in solving eight categories of crime: intentional homicide; causing deliberate injury, serious injury or death; rape; robbery; drug trafficking; arson; causing explosions; and poisoning.

Yang has summarized the brigade's experiences and practices, and introduced his findings to the city and province to promote the fight against such crimes.

In January 2018, the central government launched a three-year nationwide campaign to fight organized crime. Yang's brigade delivered an outstanding performance during the period and was awarded the title of "advanced collective" in the campaign.

In May 2020, the brigade was ordered to investigate a major case of organized crime. Yang led his colleagues in the investigation. They made breakthroughs in just two months, leading to the arrests of eight prominent members of the gang responsible.

That November, the eight were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 23 years, along with fines and confiscation of their illegal gains.

Since 1998, the gang had carried out more than 20 crimes as part of a turf war to maintain its dominance and access to illicit gains. The members were involved in many crimes, such as organizing, leading and participating in underworld activity, making false accusations, illegal detention, possession of drugs, extortion and forced business trades.

Given the high incidence of telecom and network fraud in recent years, Yang adjusted the mode of investigation in 2020, building a data model of local swindlers based on the information collected.

First, his team busted a gang that targeted foreign nationals in Ningde, and that year, it dealt with 16 local fraud gangs, capturing 298 suspects.

Last year, the officers investigated 24 groups that supported swindlers, and helped solve 116 cases in other provinces and cities.

Yang realized that severe crackdowns were only temporary measures, not a complete solution, so he made connections between 57 high street banks in Jiaocheng and established a mechanism to carry out joint examinations of suspicious accounts, which helps officers quickly check clues and trace activity.

"We pay close attention to new illegal activities that are related to people's livelihoods — such as kidnapping and fraud that targets seniors — thereby actively responding to public concerns. We use joint efforts to crack down on crime to help boost people's sense of security," he said.