Criminal Activities Occur Frequently at this Restaurant

For anyone who's had their mobile phone or wallet snatched while wolfing down a plate of gongbao jiding (or a KFC burger), the Beijing Police Force's recent decision to hang bright yellow warning signs in the front of a few notorious restaurants in Chaoyang district, telling customers to pay special attention to their belongings while eating at this particular establishment, comes as welcome news.

As I recently found out, some owners refuse to alert customers to the danger or help them to find their stolen belonging for fear of revenge. It infuriated me that when my wallet was recently snatched at a restaurant in the Dawang Lu area, the laoban met my distress on discovering the theft with a mixture of apathy and ignorance.

According to news reports, the warning “Criminal activities occur frequently/more often at this restaurant” (刑事案件多发饭馆) will be conspicuously displayed on the doors of restaurants that the Chaoyang cops say have been host to an unusually high number of thefts. These include a branch of KFC close to the International Exhibition Center (see image above) and a restaurant near the Dawang Lu subway stop (Yeah!). As the sign will obviously have an effect on the restaurants' business, it gives the owner an incentive to take responsibility for customers’ property. The police have indicated that they are willing to remove the signs as soon as they notice a significant decrease in the number of thefts.

Links and Sources:
The Hindu: Crime warning notices anger Beijing's restaurant owners