Three policemen, aged between 35 and 58, have died due to overwork in Lianyuan, central China's Hunan Province this year. The deaths have raised public concern about the health of members of the police force.

Two of them were sub-chiefs of community police stations in the city while the third was an official attached to the criminal investigation division of Lianyuan Public Security Bureau, the local newspaper Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported yesterday.

All of them were responsible officers who had worked overtime on the frontlines year after year, the newspaper quoted Wang Yongxu, a senior official of Lianyuan Public Security Bureau, as saying.

One of the sub-chiefs, Liu Zhechun, 43, suddenly fell ill before leaving for a detention center to interrogate a criminal suspect and died on January 2, from brain hemorrhage. He worked until midnight as usual the day before he fell ill.

The other sub-chief Peng Aiping, 35, was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer last October and died on January 30. He normally put in an extra 60 days of work each year but earned only 700 yuan (US$89) a month, the newspaper said.

The 58-year-old Zhou Guangqian also died from cancer on February 24. Like Peng, he also worked extra days each year.

The deaths of the policemen mirrors the overall situation of China's frontline policemen, who are under strong work pressure and yet do not receive corresponding respect from the public, according to the newspaper.

Statistics for some cities and provinces show there are only nine policemen per 10,000 population, whereas in the West it is 35.

Because of the shortage of manpower, a policeman is required to work 11 to 15 hours a day and has one day off every three weeks. The average citizen works 8 hours a day and has two days off each week.

According to the Legal Times newspaper, the average life span of a frontline policeman is 48 years, compared with more than 70 years for other citizens.

Figures from the Ministry of Public Security show that 6,819 policemen lost their lives while on duty from 1990 to 2005.

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