More than 2 million police officers are expected to get higher pay and better benefits in recognition of the pressures and risks of the job.

The increase is part of a package of measures from central authorities designed to build a more professional and efficient police force.

Increasing benefits for police is one of the highlights in the reform, making clear that officers should get more pay than civil officials but less than military personnel. Their benefits are currently similar to civil officials.

However, the Ministry of Public Security said that police officers suffer the most casualties among public employees. The latest figures from the ministry show that 449 officers were killed or died on duty and 4,226 were injured in 2013.

“It’s necessary to distinguish public security officers from civil servants, as the former tackle both administrative affairs and judicial ones,” said Dai Peng, director of the Criminal Investigation College at the People’s Public Security University of China.

“The latest measure, I think, has pointed out the future direction for the police, improving their work efficiency and ensuring law enforcement,” he said.

Police will be required to film and record all interrogations in criminal cases to ensure fairness in law enforcement and protect suspects’ human rights.

The ministry said that the credibility of the police has been damaged by problems including officers accepting bribes and bending the law to serve themselves, and the proposal to film and record interrogations is aimed at stamping out the extortion and torture that can happen in these scenarios.

The measure also asks police to set up more effective systems to pursue fugitives and increase cooperation with other departments, which Dai believes will help crack down on economic crimes and fight corruption.

Officers link overseas

The Ministry of Public Security said on Feb 14 that it had dispatched 49 police liaison officers to 27 countries since 1998, and 13 more will start liaison work this year.

The move echoes a guideline recently approved by the central government to reform the public security industry.

Under the guideline, the authority is asked to enhance police liaison work in an attempt to fight corruption and pursue fugitives.

The police liaison officers are expected to be the country’s overseas think tank, improving the public security team’s image and credibility, the ministry said, adding the dispatched officers should master diplomatic skills and foreign languages.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Public security reform highlights

Major points of a guideline aimed at reforming public security bodies:

· A permanent residency permit system will be put into place, and the temporary residency permit system will be abandoned.

· Police salaries and benefits will be improved. Status will be above other local civil servants but below military organs.

· Traffic violations and related fines will be handled across different regions.

· The system of providing green cards, or permanent residency, to foreigners will be more flexible and practical.

· A social credibility system will be built up. Residents’ criminal records may disqualify them from certain jobs.

· Procedures for freezing, seizing and sealing up property involved in cases under investigation will be clarified.

· Extorting a confession by torture must be banned, and interrogations of suspects must have video and audio recordings.