URBAN PATROL officers in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, have faced a storm of public fury after they removed a ladder while workers were still on the roof of a building, and one of the workers died after falling while trying to leave the building using a rope. Legal Daily commented on Wednesday:

In the face of the criticism the local law enforcement bureau has responded by saying the chengguan were doing their duty by taking away the tools being used to do an act in violation of the regulation as the workers were putting up an unapproved sign for a business site.

But that argument does not hold water as the Administrative Penalty Law prescribes seizing evidence only if it might be hard to obtain a later date or is at risk of being accidentally or deliberately destroyed.

The ladder the chengguan in Zhengzhou took away was obviously not that kind of evidence. The chengguan can simply take a photo of the whole site as an evidence to prove whether the workers were violating the relevant regulations.

An immediate consequence of the urban patrol officers removing the ladder was to make trouble for the workers, who were actually simply doing the job they were paid to do.

Such thoughtless law enforcement by chengguan is not rare.
For instance, chengguan will seize the clothes left on the banks by those swimming in forbidden waters.

If the chengguan really cared about the people's safety, they should warn them rather than adopting a punitive style of law enforcement. The impulsiveness of many grassroots regulation enforcers often proves harmful to their image.

Headstrong urban patrol officers should be held accountable for the consequences of their actions, and there should be a complaint channel for those who feel they have been wronged.