As of Tuesday, public security organs-assisted by improved detection ability and technologies-had solved 5,281 long-pending cases involving death and captured 4,601 fugitives involved in such cases this year.
Data released by the Ministry of Public Security on Wednesday showed that 2,269 of the solved cases had been backlogged for 10 to 20 years and 2,476 for over 20 years. The most extreme example was a case that had been pending for 42 years.
About 70 percent of the solved cases this year employed the latest technological means, such as new DNA technology, new fingerprint algorithms and big data analysis, according to Liu Zhongyi, director of the Ministry of Public Security's criminal investigation bureau
A total of 2,203 arrested fugitives were on the run for 10 to 20 years and 1,779 for more than 20 years, with the longest on the lam for 38 years.
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Liu Zhongyi, director of the ministry's criminal investigation bureau, said that the rapid development of science and technology and the improved detection mechanism boosted public security organs' ability to solve such cases.
Advancements in science and technology played a strong supporting role in efforts to eliminate the accumulated cases involving death, Liu said. In fact, he added, about 70 percent of the solved cases this year employed the latest technological means, such as new DNA technology, new fingerprint algorithms and big data analysis.
The rate of solved cases involving death that occurred last year reached 99.8 percent, and a total of 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities solved all such cases that year. The number of those types of cases nationwide dropped to a record low, Liu said.
"The public security organs have never forgotten that there are still some cases that have not been solved over the years due to the limitation of their investigative and technical abilities. More than 95 percent of cases involving death have been pending for over 10 years," he said.
Decades ago, the detection ability and technology level of public security organs were far from what they are now. Police at that time had carried out a large number of investigations, but some cases failed to be solved due to their inability to collect key clues, said Tong Bishan, deputy director of the bureau.
According to Tong, DNA technology, which is now widely used to detect and solve cases, started to be popularized in some provinces and cities at the beginning of this century. The detection sensitivity and the amount of information detected were a fraction of what they are today.
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Fingerprint comparison was basically done manually before 2000, making it difficult to realize large-scale comparison and screening, Tong said. The automatic comparison technology that was gradually popularized after 2000 and the deep learning algorithms of artificial intelligence that emerged in 2016 improved the efficiency of conducting fingerprint comparison.
Public security organs have vigorously promoted the strategy of arming the police with science and technology and have improved the development and application of scientific and technological means, said Liu.
He added that the organs will maintain rigorous efforts to solve serious violent crimes and continue to clear long-pending cases by establishing a regular working mechanism and summarizing and promoting previous experience to improve the efficiency of investigating such cases.
