BEIJING - If you ever dreamt of being a police officer but never really got around to doing anything about it, here's an opportunity that may not come your way again.

The Chongqing municipal police bureau is looking to "hire" 150 ordinary citizens to inspect its law enforcement system.

It is a part-time job and comes without a salary.

In its favor, "the resident inspectors will be able to directly challenge corruption in the police system and monitor the entire law enforcement structure", an officer in charge of the bureau's recruitment department told China Daily on Monday.

The bureau on Monday started to accept applications from "perfectly healthy men under 60 years and women under 55 years, who are residents of Chongqing". The last day to apply is next Wednesday.

The recruitment drive comes amid an overhaul of the Southwest China municipality's police system after a number of senior officers were thrown in prison for sheltering criminal gangs.

According to the police official, who wished to remain anonymous, there are two reasons for recruiting grassroots inspectors.

The first-ever national regulation to standardize and specify disciplinary punishments for errant police officers, which takes effect on Tuesday, needs external supervision.

And Chongqing's highly confident police force is ready for expanded social supervision, the official said.

The selected inspectors will be given the power to watch over more than 30,000 police officers.

According to the police bureau, the inspectors do not need to work on a regular basis, but should report misconduct as and when they discover any.

The Chongqing Evening News, which is partnering the police in the recruitment campaign, quotes police authorities as saying that the inspectors are "not being hired just so that they can take home festival gifts and dine together twice a year". They are expected to conduct projects and tasks to improve policing.

An officer with the recruitment hotline said that by 3 pm on Monday more than 500 candidates had applied either online or via the telephone.

For 21-year-old Chongqing student Tang Ning, the job is "cool, democratic and meaningful".

"Whether it's really effective or not, it's still better than not having a job at all."