In ancient times, there was no such thing as catching heads, only government officials. The fast class officials are called fast catchers

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were three classes of officials.

The three classes of yamen: that is, the soap, strong, and fast three classes of yamen, is a huge class and the lowest level of the state and county yamen. Generally speaking, the soap squad is on duty, the fast squad is arrested, and the strong squad is poor, but in fact there is no clear separation, and the soap and strong second squad are jointly responsible for internal service, standing in the hall, execution, guarding, and other responsibilities;

The so-called "three classes of government service" is only a general name, in fact, there are not only three classes, in addition to soap, strong, fast, there are also people strong, archers, poor food, menzi, forbidden children, and the work of the (that is, today's forensic doctor, the female is called Wenpo) cook, umbrella fan sedan chair man, etc., also belong to this class, they are the yamen's envoys, forced labor, but also in a broad sense of the officials, by the yamen rated labor and food silver (about six taels a year), the county officials and the people must rely on the "officials", the officials are the hub of the transfer between the government and the people, the most basic level of "law enforcement personnel" It is from the activities of the government officials that the people feel the existence of the state and the majesty of the county.

The local yamen of the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to the current municipal government.

The yamen is divided into three classes: soap, strong and fast: the soap class is equivalent to the current municipal government office and the municipal armed police detachment. Zhuangban is equivalent to the current logistics department of the municipal government and the police station of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. The fast class is equivalent to the current criminal police brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Arresting Kuai is actually a fast squad officer, which is equivalent to the current member of the Criminal Police Brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. It is under the supervision of the local government yamen. In today's terms, enjoy the official staff of municipal institutions.

There is no relationship with Jinyiwei and Dongchang.

Jinyiwei is equivalent to the current Central Guard Regiment, the Beijing Weiwu Military Region, and the military command organ directly protects the security of the imperial family or its central government station, and directly obeys the emperor's orders. It is convenient to directly mobilize in a short period of time to participate in and end small-scale close defense battles. Carry out the Emperor's assassination mission.

The East Factory is equivalent to the current Central Department of Discipline Inspection and Supervision, the State Security Bureau, and is directly under the emperor's arrangement and transfer. Officials placed in various localities and the "top leaders" of the central party, government, and military were stationed in the vicinity to monitor the behavior of officials, and their actions provided reliable information to the emperor. It belongs to the secret service.

However, unlike the catchers, they belong to the direct leadership of the Central Emperor and enjoy the treatment of national ministerial-level institutions and administrative units. It's much more generous than catching fast.

Catch fast is dressed in casual clothes on weekdays, with a waist tag to show his identity, and an iron ruler and rope in his arms. The foreman is called "head catcher" and "team leader". The common people call the catcher "catcher", "brand head", "head man", "brand man" and so on. In the legal provisions of the Ming and Qing dynasties, it is called "should be arrested" or "should be arrested", that is, "a person who has the responsibility to arrest the criminal". In some large states and counties, horses are often equipped to perform official duties, so they are also called "horse fast". Hikers, on the other hand, call them "fast steps", "healthy walking" or "chuzu". The number of people in charge of the "regular service" in each prefecture and county is determined by the size of the prefecture or county.

The investigation tasks undertaken by the arrest are all time-limited, called "ratio", generally 5 days for a "ratio", and 3 days for major homicides. If the case cannot be solved after a "comparison limit", they will be punished if they are caught quickly.

In ancient times, it was a "cheap business", and it was strictly stipulated that their descendants could not participate in the imperial examination, so as not to insult Sven. Even if they leave the industry, their children and grandchildren must be three generations later to be eligible to take the imperial examinations.

There is no salary for catching fast, and the annual food subsidy, that is, "working food silver", is only about ten taels of silver, and it is difficult to support the family, so extortion and extortion have become a kind of atmosphere, and they often set up various names to collect benefits and fees, and even collude with state and county officials, or create unjust, false and wrongful cases, or extort money from the common people, and arrest them arbitrarily.

In the poetry of the past dynasties, the eagle dog of the ruling class has often become the object of whipping. Guo Tingxi, a Qing dynasty scholar, wrote in "The Abuse of Police Arresters": "Displaced people become thieves and are forced to do so; arresting people is also becoming thieves, so how can we say that we should deal with them? There are still a few displaced people in the world, and the arrests are all over the official palaces, and the arrests are peaceful and miserable. "The homeless people are forced to become thieves because of their lives, but the real thieves are caught all over the government. Jiang Tan, another Qing man, also described the miserable survival of poor peasants: "The front is sent away, the back is sent back, the old grain is paid, and the new grain is urged." The uncooked cloth shirt of the country silk was broken, and the quality library threw out a cry of mourning. But the yamen's rent urging was in a hurry to spark and couldn't hand it over, so he had to arrest people quickly, "the Ming Dynasty didn't have any money to charge, and the old man was caught after that." It can be seen from this that at the behest of the official, the Arrest Standing Committee participates in activities such as rent collection, arrest, and arrest.

During the Republic of China, the detective team of the old Beijing Police Station also belonged to the nature of fast arrest. They all wore gray coats, except that "only the members of the detective team sometimes did not button them, sometimes only a few buttons, and walked up and leaned forward...... The lower-ranking members of the detective team shave their heads all year round, and even in winter, they don't like to wear hats. There is always a 'sweat towel' hanging from his waist, and from the outside of the coat, it looks like he is carrying a 'two boxes'." Their duty is supposed to deal with bandits, but in fact, they are capable of oppressing the common people, which is painful.