By using detective sleuthing and with the help from security cameras, Kunming police tracked where a gang, responsible for 8 days of crime in the Chinese city, and conducted an early-morning raid on Oct. 14.
The raid resulted in the arrest of 12 gang members, although five members were not arrested. Most of the gang members were minors, and even the leader was only 16 years old, Shanghaiist reported.
To discourage the young residents of Kunming from imitating the behavior of the juvenile criminals as well as assure residents they could safely walk again on city streets since the culprits have been arrested, the police paraded the 13 gang members, although since most of them are minors, they wore masks.
The first wave of crime attributed to the teens was on Oct. 7 at around 22:47 a.m. when five masked men with knives jumped out of the bushes from the road side and stopped a male rider of an electric scooter with two female passengers. The five held them up, took their mobile phones and cash totaling 2,900 yuan.
Besides the holdup, seven other late-night robbery incidents occurred in Kunming between Oct. 5 and 13, prompting city authorities to create a special police task force to hunt for the gang.
Because of China’s long history of shaming criminals by parading them in the streets, laws established on the practice banned it but occasionally there are still stone lion thieves and sex trade workers paraded in Chinese cities.
According to Trip Advisor, visitors to Kunming – although it is a fairly safe place to visit – are cautioned from walking alone at night. It said street crimes, burglaries and petty theft are not major concerns in the city, some crimes still take place occasionally.