SWAT team singles mingle

SWAT team singles mingle

• Source: Global Times
• [09:06 March 24 2011]
• Comments

By Xu Tianran

Beijing Patrol and SWAT police forces held an "open headquarters" Wednesday morning to celebrate "Police-Opening Day" in Changping district.

Not only did the elite squads invite locals to check out crime fighting gear and martial arts demos, but also seized the chance to help fellow cops find love among those in attendance by posting personal profiles of single SWAT officers on bulletin boards.

Around 5,000 people, including students, senior citizens active in the community and employees of state-owned enterprises were invited to check out the new SWAT team headquarters in Changping district.

High-tech gear such as bomb-disposal robots, night vision and sniper location systems were displayed.

Officers also held rappelling, hand-to-hand combat and brick smashing demonstrations for visitors, some of which volunteered to take their best shots at SWAT team members in a boxing ring set up for the event.

"I was hitting their gym's punching bag for fun when a policeman told me I should step in the ring and hit some policemen," said Zhang Shuang, a nurse at Beijing University Hospital of Stomatology, who launched some tender attacks at a SWAT member. "But he really didn't fight back," she said.

"Well, in the spirit of serving the people, I didn't," said Zhang's opponent, SWAT member Li Wenjie.

The Beijing SWAT is on call 24 hours a day, according to senior officer Yang Jinjun, who has carried out operations during the nation's 60th anniversary and the Xinjiang riots in 2009. "We train continuously from Monday to Friday," he said.

"[The training] is really too much to take for a regular person," said a student of the Beijing City University, "The SWAT team is really admirable."

As admirable as they might be, 54 SWAT officers, 49 men and 5 women, are still looking for that special someone.

"They are too busy to find a partner so we set up three bulletin boards at the camp displaying their personal profile with "marriage sign up lists" for those interested," said Miao Yanjun, Deputy Unit Leader of the Beijing SWAT Unit. "This is the first time we've ever tried this," he added.

Many young women, mostly nurses, and some men were seen scanning the boards, while at least 40 people left their contact information.

"They are so handsome, I always wanted to be a police officer when I was small," said a nurse surnamed Zhang from Beijing Sijiqing Hospital, "Now, I'd like to marry one."