Hao Yanbin: The True Character of a Criminal Investigator

By Chen Lirong

Hao Yanbin, head of the Criminal Investigation Division in Wen'an County, Hebei Province,gives the first impression of a man of medium build with short hair, appearing competent and determined. With a pair of clear and sharp eyes,this criminal police chief born in the 1980s shows a slight deviation from his age. According to his colleagues, Hao has gained these piercing eyes through 19 years of fighting brutal criminals.

Hao has dedicated himself to the front line of criminal investigation ever since he became a police officer 19 years ago. "Leaving no murder case unsolved is the ultimate mission of a criminal investigator"—this oath is engraved on his mind and heart.

"Bringing the culprit to justice is the best way to comfort the victim's family"

Murder cases and long-pending cases are the most challenging in criminal investigations.Braving difficulties and undauntedly fighting crimes are typical of true criminal investigators.Besides this, they also need to develop outstanding professional capability. "The key to cracking a case is unraveling the 'knots', and persistence is required for identifying the knots," Hao often said to his colleagues. "The Party and people have entrusted us this mission. This is a heavy but lofty responsibility."

In a case of suspected murder, which was directly supervised by the provincial Public Security Department, the suspect Ma, who had been on the run for two decades, was listed as the number one target. As the case took place a long time ago, there were few clues and inadequate information in any direction. This put enormous pressure on the criminal police brigade.

Encouraging his colleagues to tackle the challenge head on, Hao formed a taskforce of his best minds and designed an all-new investigation plan. Dividing responsibilities, integrating resources, and scrutinizing the data, the taskforce made an all-out effort to solve the challenging case. They combed through the case file, consulted senior police officers who had hunted Ma for years, and carefully examined every lead. In order to gather all possible clues, they revisited over 100 people and travelled to numerous places in Jilin,Liaoning, Shanxi, Shanghai, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, and more. Traveling tens of thousands of kilometers, Hao and his teammates conducted interviews and made inquiries during the day, and had internal discussions in the evening, and make timely adjustments to their strategies.

During a visit to one of Ma's connections, Hao found several scraps of paper on a window sill,and the numbers on the paper caught his attention and offered some valuable clues. Hao and his colleagues followed the clues to compare and comb through materials, eventually cracking the fake identity that Ma used on the run.

After more than two months of arduous tracking, they succeeded in capturing the suspect in a coal mine dormitory in Ordos, Inner Mongolia on July 29, 2021.

Bringing a case to a close and criminals to justice presents the best consolation to the family of the victim. Every time a long-pending criminal case was solved, Hao will receive a text message– "Many thanks to you, Officer Hao. The victim can finally rest in peace." The message, however,brought mixed feelings to his heart. Some homicide or long-unsolved investigations missed potential breakthroughs due to the technical restrictions at that time, but he has never ever neglected his duty as a police officer, he said.

In the early morning of November 15, 2001,an entire family was found slain. The tragic murder took place in a timber marketplace in Zuogezhuang Township, Wen'an County, Hebei Province, and the suspect Xu had fled from the scene. For years, the police worked to track down Xu. Years after the case, the grueling investigations had not identified any trace of the murderer.Hao could hardly resign himself to the suspension.

In 2019, the "Operation Cloud Sword" was launched across China, and public security organs at all levels pulled together to intensify the hunt for fugitives. The Wen'an police selected their most experienced staff to join a new taskforce led by Hao in order to comb through the criminal case again for leads. Hao worked around the clock to re-examine the case documents and sorted out relevant information in an effort to reproduce the crime scene.

Making numerous field visits and interviews,Hao came to know that the son of the suspect Xu had once attended primary school in Harbin,Heilongjiang Province, years after the murder.Based on the new clue, Hao held that since Xu had no relatives or friends in Harbin, he could probably hide himself in the city. Convinced of his judgment, Hao rushed to Harbin along with his team, only to find that the primary school where the criminal's son had studied had been demolished. The lead came to a dead end again.

Hao, however, was not frustrated. He made multiple trips to Harbin. Aware that Xu had been a bricklayer by trade, Hao and his colleagues focused on searching the citywide market places of parttime construction workers. A few market places near a one-story building complex were finally listed as the key targets of investigation. In the daytime, they stayed there and made undercover inquiries. Soon after that, a middle-aged man caught their attention, and he was identified as the wanted suspect.

Under Hao's leadership, the taskforce teamed up with the local police to rush through the rain to Xu's hideout and pounced on him at 3:00 a.m. on September 8, 2019. Upon hearing Xu pronounce his name in the dialect of his hometown Wen'an County, Hao felt relieved that the most wanted suspect in a murder case who had been at large for 18 years was eventually captured.

"Only through overcoming difficulties can we deliver satisfactory answers to the Party and people"

For Hao Yanbin, homicides and other types of brutal cases affect not only the victims and their immediate families. They also involve extended families on both sides, put local communities at risk, and damage the image and business environment of the cities involved. This reality does not allow any relaxation.

Ge Jiangbo, Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau of Wen'an County in charge of criminal investigation, is also a veteran detective.Having witnessed every step of progress that Hao has made over the past ten-plus years, he has grown increasingly fond of this protege of his. In the eyes of Ge, Hao is not only loyal and devoted to his career but also smart, calm, and decisive,having all the essential qualities for effective criminal investigations in the new era.

Hao has developed a habit in his decade-long career: Every time his team returned to the hotel during business trips, he would ask team members to get some rest first, while he re-examined the investigation plan and checked for loopholes and deviations by himself.

Work longer and think more and further – this is what Hao considers his duty.

As observed by his colleagues, Hao has the double merits of expertise and industry. On the one hand, he has continuously expanded his knowledge, applied latest techniques in criminal investigations, and remained mindful of various traces and signs. On the other, he has demonstrated extraordinary endurance and stamina in tracing the leads and hunting down suspects.

Many describe investigations into longunsolved cases as finding a needle in a haystack.However, according to Hao, this is no real challenge; what's most important is to determine first whether the needle is indeed hidden in the haystack. In "Drawing the Sword 2022",a special campaign to crack long-unsolved cases, the responsibility of finding the culprits in a murder and robbery case dated September 10, 1996, was once again placed on Hao,who worked under direct supervision of the provincial authority.

After the taskforce was formed, Hao fully devoted himself to the case. He scrutinized the case file day and night, consulted senior officers who used to work on the case, combed through the complex social relations involved, and assessed comprehensive factors. Following the lead that one of the culprits was nicknamed "wry mouth,"the taskforce investigated and collected evidence from over 60 people in the target age group from the home area of this suspect, and interrogated 6 detainees, before discovering the real name of"wry mouth," whose surname is Liu. Based on this finding, they expanded the scope of investigations and identified one of his accomplices, who is surnamed Li. Through meticulous research and well-founded judgment, the taskforce discovered their trails and whereabouts in Dongguan,Guangdong, as well as Hubei and Henan. Making this breakthrough, the police officers arrested all four suspects after several months of hunting them through over 10 cities in Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi,Guangdong, and other provinces.

However, all four suspects initially denied the charges despite the overwhelming evidence.This led to a deadlock. Taking no break after the exhausting operation of catching the suspects, Hao started to re-examine the entire chain of evidence.After confirming the taskforce's judgment, he formulated a detailed plan for interrogation after carefully sorting out the suspects' social life, relationships, psychological states, and personalities. Confronting the suspects face-to-face with strategic tactics and solid evidence, he finally broke their mental resistance and they confessed their crimes. The case thus drew to a successful close.

"It was Hao who makes a major breakthrough in solving many cases," said Zou Xuewen, one of Hao's colleagues in the task force. According to Zou, what everyone admires most about Hao is that during investigation, he is extremely careful and diligent in finding clues and directions to solve the case; when capturing criminal suspects, he is calm, decisive and fearless in face of danger; in his daily work and life, he is like a military officer devoted to honing his knowledge.

"Every single day is a new start for me as a police officer"

Hao Yanbin is not talkative, and has a hint of shyness. He is always stumped for words when asked about his glowing performance. However,he talks like a machine gun with words full of wit and wisdom during tireless discussions with his comrades about the latest detection techniques and the details of cases.

The incidence rate and characteristics of criminal cases have been evolving with society.To keep pace with changes, Hao perseveres in learning techniques for cracking new types of criminal cases and the know-how of various fields to better himself, while staying true to the oath that he swore when joining the police force. The best approach to meeting new challenges is to keep learning, and a police officer should regard him or herself as a rookie every single day to learn and to advance, he said.

"The key to settling a case is the application of new techniques," said Hao. As the methods of committing crimes are ever-changing, the frontline civil police, who directly deal with criminals,must keep abreast of the times by continuously learning the latest investigation techniques. Just as the proverb goes, "If you want to work with iron, you must be tough yourself." Likewise, only by sharpening their professional skills can police officers beat the criminals.

Hao and his team always put what they have learned into practice. One case in point is their success in breaking the brutal murder that occurred on September 6, 1998, in which a taxi driver was robbed and killed. Not long after that day, two of the suspects were busted, but the other two were on the run. For years, the police of Wen'an County never ceased tracking the criminals, but their arduous efforts had not paid off due to a lack of information on the suspects. In July 2019, two comrades of Hao came back from training on criminal investigation techniques, and Hao advised them both to try to apply what they had learned.Leveraging the new investigation skills, they managed to find valuable leads from the suspects'wedding pictures and the photos of their driving licenses on file. Moreover, they investigated and paid undercover visits to 70 people. Working around the clock for 25 days and nights, they finally caught the two suspects in Hangzhou,Zhejiang Province, after they being on the loose for over two decades.

Nineteen years as a police officer has forged Hao Yanbin into one of the best hands in solving criminal cases and interrogating criminals in the entire province. During those 19 years, he handled 1,000-plus brutal and pressing criminal cases, which helped sharpen his investigation skills. Never absent from the battle against crime,Hao was transferred many times to other police stations at higher administrative levels or other regions to support case investigations. He was one of the top guns involved in the handling of the notorious telecom fraud case of December 30,gun trafficking case of October 23, drug trafficking case of 2018, and myriad other tough cases, with their investigations under the direct supervision of national or provincial authorities.

"Achievements and honors are history, and every single day is a new start for me," said Hao.Aiming to be an ardent defender of the Party and people, he regards every day as his first day on the police force.■