SARS AND THE INVESTIGATION IN CHINESE MAINLAND

During the last spring and the beginning of this summer, China has suffered the unexpected strike of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The disease did disturb all Chinese's normal life. As a witness of the whole accident, thereby I will depict the situation of investigation industry in Chinese mainland and some impacts of the investigation industry had got from the disease.

Since SARS emerged in Beijing, how to prevent and control the epidemic has become a major concern. One of the worries is that it may spread in public places where are crowded with people, government departments have taken various measures to ensure a sanitary environment. Residential compounds are asked to strengthen sanitation, the elevators, door handles, and other public facilities are all required disinfect frequently. the guards stood by every entrance to keep the strangers outside. In the city's key transport routes, more buses are put into operation to avoid over-crowdedness and keep good ventilation. Apart from the reinforcement of various cleaning measures inside towns and villages, strict regulations are also carried out for the entry of people and vehicles from outside. Disinfection is essential to arrest any imported threat of SARS. The Beijing government had decided to suspend all entertainment business which are involving mass public gatherings to curb the spread of SARS, such business including karaoke houses, Internet bars, theatres and cinemas. In some shops in the city, salespeople are not only required to wear masks, but are also asked to avoid long introductions and make their points simple and clear. All the public facilities, particularly goods yards, toilets and garbage cans must be sterilized timely. The municipal education department has asked all schools, colleges and universities to reduce mass activities. Presently, comprehensive sterilization work is being conducted in all communities of the city. A big number of special personnel have been appointed to take charge of the sterilization work in all the public places. Meanwhile measures are also taken to ensure the health of rural laborers working in Beijing. The health situation of every worker is monitored, and regular shuttles are also arranged for them.

Such measures improved the sanitary situation in Beijing effectively, but we have to confess that the SARS surely impacted the development of investigation industry in Chinese mainland. After all, it is a burgeoning industry in the country. Brook Larmer, who works with Newsweek as a journalist, wrote an article whose theme is Sleuths For Hire commented on the industry ----"Beijing may want to regulate this new industry, but it is caught in a bind. Not only is the government running dangerously low on public trust and police manpower, but because Beijing forbids private-detective agencies, the hundreds of new firms register as 'consultancies' or 'legal services'-or they don't bother to register at all." And from the part of the public of China, majority of them still treat the investigation industry as a mysterious and covert ones. There have no a definite idea of the industry in the general people. So the clients of the investigation cases are always from overseas. Investigation in Chinese mainland surely is in such a dilemma.

As we all know, because Chinese government forbids private-detective agencies, so investigators in Chinese mainland only offer such services as insurance claims and fraud investigation, pre-employment verification, individual background profiles, providing assistance in civil liability cases and personal injury cases, financial profiles and asset searches, etc.

There are no strict education requirements for investigator jobs in China, although minority of them have college degrees. So the good investigation agencies and the bad are intermingled in the country. Almost all successful investigators have previous experience in other occupations. Some work initially for insurance or enter from such diverse fields as finance, accounting, commercial credit, investigative reporting, and law. Many investigators enter the field after serving in law enforcement, the military, government auditing and investigative positions, or police jobs, for example, Mr. Yang Hai, the president of Steele Business Investigation Center, who had worked as a police officer more than 10 years. These individuals often can apply their prior work experience in a related investigative specialty. For investigator jobs, most employers look for individuals with ingenuity, persistence and assertiveness. A candidate must not be afraid of confrontation, should communicate well, and should be able to think on his or her feet. Good interviewing and interrogation skills also are important and usually are acquired in earlier careers in law enforcement or other fields. Usually there are no definite ranks or steps, so advancement takes the form of increases in salary and assignment status. Many investigators work for agencies at the beginning of their careers and after a few years start their own firms. Corporate and legal investigators may rise to supervisor or manager of the security or investigations department.

In all cases, investigators assist attorneys, businesses, and the public with a variety of legal, financial, and personal problems. And investigators always use many means to determine the facts in a variety of matters. Their reports reflect information gathered through interviews, investigation and surveillance, and research, including review of public documents. To carry out investigations, they may use various types of surveillance or searches. But recently in Beijing, investigators have no approaches to close up any official buildings or residential districts to verify facts, such as an individual's place of employment or income, they have to make phone calls but have no chances to visit the place where the subject appears frequently as usual. And during the peak of SARS, there are many companies have to make the employees working at home or take a long vacation, so even if the investigators made phone calls to verify the facts, there are nobody answer the calls. And we have to admit that it is difficult to get the necessary trust from the answerer, which is vital factor for making the conclusions. In other cases, especially those involving missing persons and background checks, investigators often interview people to gather as much information as possible about an individual, but during such an abnormal period, investigators have to just make phone calls and cancelled interviews. Most investigators usually perform physical surveillance from an inconspicuous location often for long periods. They may observe a site, such as the home of a subject to make a photo or videotape with video cameras, binoculars, and a cell phone. The surveillance continues still and until the desired evidence is obtained. But during the SARS abnormal period, all of these measures will be in vain. Because everyone stayed at home, nobody went to public places, and even there are some people have to go outside, they all wear a mask. It is a bizarre scene that on the streets and allays of Beijing, the capital of one of the biggest country in the world, only few people flitter on the street with a mask to avoid the virus infect.

Many investigators spend time away from their offices conducting interviews or doing surveillance, but some work in their office most of the day conducting computer searches and making phone calls. Those who have their own agencies and employ other investigators may work primarily in an office and have normal business hours. However in remote counties of Chinese mainland, such measures cannot act as good as in metropolis. There have no enough facilities to use; most investigation agencies are small, with a tiny office. So the investigators there put more attention to the field investigation. They prefer collect information directly, but the scarcity of the clients baffles them for a long period.

From all of I have mentioned above, we can get such a conclusion that there is a zigzag way to go for Chinese Investigation although the industry has a rosy future.