Chen Bing, An Iron-willed Policeman with Disability

Yu Gongxuan and Zhang Wei

On a winter evening， a single-armed young policeman gets down on one knee and places a flashlight on the ground to check the burglary scene at a property management company in Chongqing. The light illuminates the footprint of the suspect. He bends lower and wields a ruler to measure the trace with his left arm... This is Chen Bing， a forensic officer with Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

“I Was Most Afraid That I Can't Be a Policeman Anymore”

Chen was investigating a transformer theft on April 8， 2010 when he was hit by tens-of-thousands of volts due to an electrician's negligence. Consequently， he was evaluated with Level-3 disability as his entire right arm was amputated and his right leg was left with permanent function loss. He finally saved the right leg after three major surgeries， but he could never run or jump again， and was barred from strenuous exercise.

In order to restore lower-extremity function， Chen began painstaking rehabilitation training shortly after his wounds healed. In the very beginning， he could easily fall down and get bruised. One day， he lost balance while practicing standing on feet by his bed. Unconsciously， he supported himself against the floor with the amputated arm， which ended up bleeding badly. His mother was eager to help him up， but he declined， “Mom， I'll get up by myself！” During his year-long rehabilitation， he fell and rose over and over again. It was after a whole year that he could finally walk by himself. He also relearned to clean himself， use chopsticks， write， and type with his left hand. Chen said that a person can only realize how resilient he is after setbacks. Zhang Xinjie， Chen's classmate in college and colleague， praised Chen's iron will， as he refuses to give up or surrender and always achieves his goal.

His narrow escape from death has helped him cherish life all the more and acquire a sense of detachment for his age. “Nothing is more important than being alive，” he said. “I was most afraid that I can't be a policeman anymore.”

“Though Incomplete Physically， I Shall Be Complete in Spirit and Walk My Own Journey”

Determined to continue his career as a policeman， Chen faced rehabilitation training to resume physical function and was willing to try anything to recover. As soon as his conditions improved， he pleaded to return to the force. His return was finally approved on December 15， 2011. But back in office， he refused preferential treatment and forced himself to stay in step with everybody else. To this end， he made enormous efforts.

To avoid peak hour congestion， Chen gets up before 6 a.m. to take the earliest light rail to work and leaves the office at almost 8 p.m. One day， it suddenly began pouring rain on his way to work. He fell down at the station， just 50 meters away from his office. It took him over 20 minutes to drag himself to the workplace. Some of his colleagues broke into tears at the sight of him， soaked and muddy. Tying shoelaces， simple as it seems， was draining because he had to crouch and got it done with his left arm and teeth.

How long can he persist with his work？ Chen's action was the answer. His colleagues offered to wash his bowl and chopsticks after meals， but he would take them back and clean them against the corner of the sink. He held the edge of his bowl with his teeth and washed it with one hand. He told others that he was there to work， not to cause troubles. There are decades to go before he retires， so he must rely on himself rather than being attended to.

Some of his workmates suggested that they drive him to the office and back home， and he is allowed to reimburse his expenses in taxi commuting. However， all these were denied by Chen. On the contrary， he is always very punctual for work， rain or shine. “Though incomplete physically， I should be complete in spirit and walk my own journey，” said Chen.

“I Shall Leverage My Strengths to Pursue My Dream”

Upon his return to the office， Chen was transferred to the Forensic Science Section as an office clerk， whose main responsibility is to manage archives. A rookie in the post， he devoted himself to it and excelled： He collated and archived 2，500 files of unsolved cases from the previous three years and remembered almost every single one in detail. With such an ability， Chen came up with new practices. He uploaded physical evidence information to a database for comparison， related and examined the cases committed by similar approaches， and compared the fingerprints of suspects with those in past cases. In this way， he helped conclude a dozen cases， recovering 300，000 yuan in loss from the cases.

In April 2015， two homicide cases took place in Chen's jurisdiction. His colleagues and Chen conducted on-site investigations and studied case details in the daytime， while continuing crime scene simulations in the evening. They made a dozen on-site investigations and collected over 150 biological samples， from which they identified suspects' DNA， solid evidence of the crimes. In recent years， Chen volunteered to join investigations for 15 major cases and assisted in apprehending 15 suspects， avoiding an economic loss of some 6 million yuan. Through tireless efforts， Chen also discovered new clues from the previous case files， which led to the conclusion of 30-plus cases and saved nearly one million yuan. He said： “I shall leverage my strengths to pursue my dream. This is how I prove my value.”

With nine years of experience in forensic practice， Chen also tutored five freshmen with meticulous effort. Each of them proves excellent in their independent missions. They helped to conclude a dozen cases and arrested 20 suspects by fingerprint comparison alone.

Given Chen's physical condition， his supervisors approved exemptions from legwork. But Chen never sits still and always pleads to join in the fieldwork. During recent investigations， he recovered altered VINs on site， which belonged to stolen Hongyan-brand trucks worth millions of RMB. These were identified as the physical evidence for case settlement.

Chen asked to investigate， with his colleagues， a murder in an apartment in early 2020. He searched around the 30-some floors with a flashlight and finally discovered some blood at the basement. Through examination and analysis， he presumed the suspect's escape route and injury in the right hand， as was conducive to the arrest of the murderer in 52 hours.

In his spare time， Chen indulges himself in study and research. He has written eight papers of some 50，000 Chinese characters by typing word by word with his left hand. His works On Modes of Analytical Thinking at Crime Scenes and Analysis and Reflection on On-site Investigation for Fatal Falls， to name a few， have been included in the Theories of Forensic Science and Progress of Practice in Chongqing series. The paper Multi-metal Deposition through Colloidal Gold To Develop the Fingerprint Soaked for Different Time， co-authored by Chen， was published by the key journal Forensic Science and Technology， 2019， 44（6）. His work On Rebuilding Crime Scenes by 3-D Graphics Software gives a visual manifestation of the crime scene and provides a simple and applicable method to understanding how crimes are committed and how suspects develop motivations.

“I Will Pass Light and Warmth to More People”

Chen， however， does not bask in his reputation.  He is earnest in his work and enthusiastic in promoting public welfare. He said that he is proud of being a policeman. “I wish I were a lamp so that I could pass light and warmth to more people. I'm ready to help others with disabilities to resume their confidence so that they can enjoy a different but better life.”

Chen was invited to a summer camp for children with burn injuries as a charity ambassador for the Army Medical University in July 2013. A girl asked him how to deal with weird look. Chen relied， “Never care about what others think of you because you are the master of your life. People may stare at you for a few seconds， but life means more than that. As confidence comes from the inside， if you have a mighty heart， you'll be optimistic in  life and work.”

Thanks to Chen's continual assistance， the girl finally emerged from her despair. He also helped Chen Yuan， a girl with disability， to realize her dream of going to college. He intended not to meet her in person in case it  hurt her feelings. Instead， he donated 4，000 yuan in the name of the Foundation of Chongqing Federation of Youth and decided to support her until she graduated. Besides， he has donated his compensation granted by different organizations to left-behind children in mountainous regions.

Chen was elected Instructor of the Forensic Science Branch of the Criminal Investigation Division， mainly in charge of team building and publicity.He understands that the role represents not just trust and expectation from the organization， but also great responsibility.

In the new post， Chen has taken the lead in observing instructions and protocols. To have a clear picture of the team's holistic wellbeing， he visited the households of police officers and auxiliaries to help solve pressing problems such as their spouses' employment and children's enrollment to school. He established psychological records for each individual， on the basis of which he wrote analytical reports on team building. He set regulations on study and education as well as Party building， and equipped its members with its new theories. By doing so， progress has been made in Party building and its Youth League building， professional training intensified， and work conduct refined. As a result， the entire team has been strengthened， and the motivation improved.

“Chen Bing is physically disabled but mentally firm and professionally dedicated. He forges ahead against obstacles and pursues his dream with one arm， setting a good example for the post-80s generation and the police forces，” applauded He Wei， Head of the Criminal Investigation Division， Liangjiang New Area Police Sub-bureau， Chongqing Public Security Bureau.

Over the past three years， the section in which Chen works was named a national demonstration unit for forensic science and technology. Nine freshmen became technical experts， three police officers were included in the national database for young talents specializing in forensic technology， and one was appointed a Chongqing forensic expert. Its research project won the silver prize in an innovation competition hosted by the Ministry of Public Security. It also received other honors from the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau， including the Chen Bing Technical Office， Chongqing Excellent Unit for Youth， and Excellent Local Unit for Criminal Investigation.

（Translated by Agnes）