Hao Yanbin: The True Character of a Criminal Investigator

Hao Yanbin， head of the Criminal Investigation Division in Wen'an County， Hebei Province， gives the first impression of a man of medium build with short hair， appearing competent and determined. With a pair of clear and sharp eyes， this criminal police chief born in the 1980s shows a slight deviation from his age. According to his colleagues， Hao has gained these piercing eyes through 19 years of fighting brutal criminals.

Hao has dedicated himself to the front line of criminal investigation ever since he became a police officer 19 years ago. "Leaving no murder case unsolved is the ultimate mission of a criminal investigator"—this oath is engraved on his mind and heart.

"Bringing the culprit to justice is the best way to comfort the victim's family"

Murder cases and long-pending cases are the most challenging in criminal investigations. Braving difficulties and undauntedly fighting crimes are typical of true criminal investigators. Besides this， they also need to develop outstanding professional capability. "The key to cracking a case is unraveling the 'knots'， and persistence is required for identifying the knots，" Hao often said to his colleagues. "The Party and people have entrusted us this mission. This is a heavy but lofty responsibility."

In a case of suspected murder， which was directly supervised by the provincial Public Security Department， the suspect Ma， who had been on the run for two decades， was listed as the number one target. As the case took place a long time ago， there were few clues and inadequate information in any direction. This put enormous pressure on the criminal police brigade.

Encouraging his colleagues to tackle the challenge head on， Hao formed a taskforce of his best minds and designed an all-new investigation plan. Dividing responsibilities， integrating resources， and scrutinizing the data， the taskforce made an all-out effort to solve the challenging case. They combed through the case file， consulted senior police officers who had hunted Ma for years， and carefully examined every lead. In order to gather all possible clues， they revisited over 100 people and travelled to numerous places in Jilin， Liaoning， Shanxi， Shanghai， Guangdong， Inner Mongolia， and more. Traveling tens of thousands of kilometers， Hao and his teammates conducted interviews and made inquiries during the day， and had internal discussions in the evening， and make timely adjustments to their strategies.

During a visit to one of Ma's connections， Hao found several scraps of paper on a window sill， and the numbers on the paper caught his attention and offered some valuable clues. Hao and his colleagues followed the clues to compare and comb through materials， eventually cracking the fake identity that Ma used on the run.

After more than two months of arduous tracking， they succeeded in capturing the suspect in a coal mine dormitory in Ordos， Inner Mongolia on July 29， 2021.

Bringing a case to a close and criminals to justice presents the best consolation to the family of the victim. Every time a long-pending criminal case was solved， Hao will receive a text message – "Many thanks to you， Officer Hao. The victim can finally rest in peace." The message， however， brought mixed feelings to his heart. Some homicide or long-unsolved investigations missed potential breakthroughs due to the technical restrictions at that time， but he has never ever neglected his duty as a police officer， he said.

In the early morning of November 15， 2001， an entire family was found slain. The tragic murder took place in a timber marketplace in Zuogezhuang Township， Wen'an County， Hebei Province， and the suspect Xu had fled from the scene. For years， the police worked to track down Xu. Years after the case， the grueling investigations had not identified any trace of the murderer.Hao could hardly resign himself to the suspension.

In 2019， the "Operation Cloud Sword" was launched across China， and public security organs at all levels pulled together to intensify the hunt for fugitives. The Wen'an police selected their most experienced staff to join a new taskforce led by Hao in order to comb through the criminal case again for leads. Hao worked around the clock to re-examine the case documents and sorted out relevant information in an effort to reproduce the crime scene.

Making numerous field visits and interviews， Hao came to know that the son of the suspect Xu had once attended primary school in Harbin， Heilongjiang Province， years after the murder. Based on the new clue， Hao held that since Xu had no relatives or friends in Harbin， he could probably hide himself in the city. Convinced of his judgment， Hao rushed to Harbin along with his team， only to find that the primary school where the criminal's son had studied had been demolished. The lead came to a dead end again.

Hao， however， was not frustrated. He made multiple trips to Harbin. Aware that Xu had been a bricklayer by trade， Hao and his colleagues focused on searching the citywide market places of part-time construction workers. A few market places near a one-story building complex were finally listed as the key targets of investigation. In the daytime， they stayed there and made undercover inquiries. Soon after that， a middle-aged man caught their attention， and he was identified as the wanted suspect.