A SWAT Officer’s Toughness and Gentleness | Women Power

Chongqing - "In me the tiger sniffs the rose." She embodies toughness as a SWAT officer and can also be defined as gentle for being a mother.

Liu Hongyan can wave a baton with a robust physique, rappel down a rope, or shoot with a steady gaze. She is the deputy leader of the sixth detachment of the Armed Police Forces of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau and a first-level superintendent. 

She is a long-distance runner with a medal in the 10-kilometer cross country race at the World Police Games. She is a strict instructor who has trained many police elites.

She has another identity, however, as a mother. She loves calligraphy for it can calm her heart. She is a devoted wife, she cares about family education and is patient and gentle with her children.

As a tough SWAT officer

Liu Hongyan from Aksu, Xinjiang, had her talent discovered by a coach in a long-distance running competition organized by the junior high school. Then she had been trained for middle- and long-distance running and later joined the Beijing Bayi Military Pentathlon Team as a candidate for international competitions. The training featured a high intensity. According to statistics from the team where Liu Hongyan stayed, the total distance they ran in three years equals the length of the earth's equator, and the number of bombs they dropped can fill two trucks.

Liu Hongyan in uniform (Photo provided to iChongqing).

The hard training and army life made Liu Hongyan an unyielding spirit and tenacity and not afraid of hardship. After joining the SWAT team, she felt that "there was less training," but she decided that she should not slack off.

As for the following training behind closed doors, she took to training every day and the drill once a week.

The past decade has witnessed over 100 various awards and honors that she won, including national and international ones. Moreover, she has undertaken the training tasks for more than 800 class hours and taught over 24,300 trainees. She has provided security services at events of various sizes over 100 times.

The gentle woman loves calligraphy

Many men may flinch at a female SWAT officer. "Will she hit me if we get a fight?" This is the first question that flashes across many minds.

Liu Hongyan said that she and her husband, who is also a special police officer, seldom quarrel and have never hit each other. Liu Hongyan is confident that she will win after all, but she prefers "presenting facts and reasoning things out."

"In case of conflicts, you can clarify your point of view and what your advantages are. We will talk and analyze, and whoever makes sense wins." Liu Hongyan said that she would never step forward to change the light bulb at home because she considers it "a matter that she can't do," but that can show her husband's "importance". Of course, she would try her best to compliment him after that.

Liu likes calligraphy. She explained: "A SWAT officer always makes a move in haste, but calligraphy helps calm one down." In December 2021, she won second prize at a calligraphy competition.

Liu learns calligraphy in her office (Photo provided to iChongqing).

In 2019, Liu Hongyan obtained the certificate of senior instructor for family education. She did it because of a conversation with her twin sons. The other day, she praised the elder son for something, but the younger boy did not want to be commended for that. Then she realized that different children, even twins, cannot be treated the same way. They should be addressed differently, and their thoughts perceived with care.

Liu helps her sons to do the homework (Photo provided to iChongqing).

Liu Hongyan said that her work and personality have turned her into a "tough woman," but she wants to be a "gentle woman" in family life. The two completely different temperaments coexist harmoniously in her.