Ahead of Autonomous Police System Implementation, Seoul Police Officer Says, "Concern Over Transfer of Local Government Duties... Ordinance Amendment Needed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Seoul police officers have urged revisions to the ordinance prepared by the Seoul Metropolitan Government ahead of the full implementation of the autonomous police system in July.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Workplace Council (Jikhyup) held a press conference in front of Seoul City Hall on the 31st, stating, "According to the current Seoul ordinance, there is a risk that local government duties could be transferred without prior consultation with the police," and added, "Due to manpower shortages for emergency call dispatch, there are concerns about security gaps, which will ultimately affect the citizens."

The autonomous police system refers to a system where local governments supervise and command police duties closely related to residents' daily lives, such as community safety (including children and youth), traffic, and local security. To this end, a city/provincial autonomous police committee is formed under the mayor or governor to supervise autonomous police affairs, and it will be implemented simultaneously nationwide on July 1.

Jikhyup first argued that the committee should appoint a chairperson or standing member who is a former police officer. They also insisted that three out of the seven total committee members should be police officers, citing concerns that a lack of understanding of police affairs could cause confusion on the ground. Furthermore, they proposed establishing the necessary administrative offices within the committee, composed equally of general civil servants and police officers, and assigning police officers as team leaders responsible for security policies.

The current "Act on the Organization and Operation of the National Police and Autonomous Police" stipulates that the committee consists of seven members, including one chairperson. The chairperson and one member serve as standing members, while the remaining five members are non-standing. All members are appointed by the mayor or governor.

Jikhyup also demanded the deletion of Article 2, Paragraph 3 of the ordinance, which allows the addition of duties agreed upon by the Seoul Mayor and the Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. They argued that this could lead to uncontrolled expansion of duties, making it difficult to clarify autonomous police duties and ensure democratic control. Additionally, they requested that the wording in Article 2, Paragraph 3, which currently states that the opinion of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief "may be heard" when revising regulations related to autonomous police duties, be changed to "must be heard."

Moreover, Jikhyup called for autonomous police officers and Seoul city officials to receive equal welfare benefits and requested that the appointment authority be delegated not to the Seoul Mayor and the committee but re-delegated to the Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Lastly, to reduce confusion during the initial implementation of the autonomous police system and address concerns about security gaps, they advocated for the temporary formation and operation of a 24-hour joint response team between the Seoul Police and Seoul City.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.