The volunteers helping maintain public security in Xicheng district are mostly dama, (elderly women aged between 58 to 65), and they have reported 11,937 suspicious persons, objects and incidents to authorities in the first half of 2015, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Among the 70,000 people who volunteer to help with public security in Xicheng district, 70 percent are dama. These dama volunteers are assigned to cover different sections of the district according to where they live. If they spot any suspicious persons, they inform the police immediately.

Thanks to these dama volunteers, the Xicheng police have solved 165 criminal cases and 558 public security cases, in the first half of the year.