Day 1 'Full Implementation of the Autonomous Police System' Commemorative Event... Jeon Hae-cheol "Supporting Rapid Rooting in Local Areas"

Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, and Kim Han-jong, President of the Council of Chairpersons of City and Provincial Councils, Attend

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] To mark the full implementation of the autonomous police system, the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the National Police Agency held a commemorative event on the 1st at the Sejong Convention Center.

The fully implemented autonomous police system is a task that has been steadily discussed for over 70 years since liberation to enhance the democracy and community orientation of police activities. The Moon Jae-in administration set the introduction of a metropolitan-level autonomous police system as a national agenda and has been making efforts to legislate the autonomous police system centered on the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee under the President.

Accordingly, on December 9 last year, the "Act on the Organization and Operation of the National Police and Autonomous Police (Police Act)" passed the National Assembly, and after pilot operations by city and province this year, it was fully implemented nationwide on the 1st.

The commemorative event for the full implementation of the autonomous police system was divided into Part 1, the ceremony, and Part 2, the autonomous police cooperation meeting. In Part 1, after reviewing the process of introducing the autonomous police system, congratulations were given by guests including Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the National Assembly's Administrative Safety Committee; Assembly members Lee Myung-soo, Kim Young-bae, Seo Beom-su, and Lim Ho-seon; Heo Tae-jeong, Mayor of Daejeon; and Kim Han-jong, Chairman of the Council of City and Provincial Council Chairs. Attendees also promised the successful establishment of the autonomous police system through a handprint ceremony.

Part 2 was held as the 'Autonomous Police Cooperation Meeting' chaired by the Minister of the Interior and Safety, attended by the Chair of the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee, the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, and 18 autonomous police committee chairs from cities and provinces nationwide. They shared best practices from the pilot operations and discussed institutional improvements for the autonomous police system among participants.

Busan presented a best practice case of building a network to promote resident-experienced projects, such as the 'Police Living Lab,' which discovers security issues in the local field through public-private-academic collaboration and reflects improvement plans in policies. The Living Lab concept was proposed in 2004 by Professor Mitchell of MIT in the United States and attempts to find solutions to social problems by setting the living environment as a laboratory through community member participation.

Chungnam announced resident-centered policies reflecting local conditions, including joint facility inspections by related agencies such as the Provincial Police Agency to prevent recurrence of traffic accident deaths at Tapjeongho, which was the first command of the autonomous police committee, operation of CCTV video patrols to prevent missing dementia patients, and the establishment of an emergency medical center for intoxicated persons.

Additionally, Daejeon's 'Advanced Emergency Admission System for Mental Patients' and Gyeongnam's 'Safe School Commute Route Creation' are also expected as resident-centered policies reflecting local realities, while Gangwon's 'Improvement of District Police Station Working Environment' project is anticipated to boost police morale, leading to improved resident security services.

Attendees of the event stated, "With the full implementation of the autonomous police system, it will be possible to provide proactive and preventive police activities and resident-friendly customized security services through linkage and integration between security administration and local administration," and added, "The police will come closer to residents' daily lives, and the level of security services is expected to improve significantly."

Meanwhile, Kim Soon-eun, Chair of the Autonomy and Decentralization Committee under the President, said, "Seeing the considerable achievements in each city and province even during the short pilot operation period, I have high expectations for the future," and urged, "All parties must closely cooperate so that the autonomous police system can flourish in various forms in every city and province."

Kim Chang-ryong, Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, promised active support for the successful establishment of the autonomous police system, saying, "The National Police Agency will spare no cooperation and support to firmly root the autonomous police system as a new system and culture." Following this, the autonomous police committee chairs from cities and provinces nationwide pledged, "We will actively cooperate with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency to discover various security policies reflecting regional characteristics and drastically improve local security capabilities."

Jeon Hae-cheol, Minister of the Interior and Safety, said, "It is important to create a regionally customized security ecosystem linked with various resident governance in local communities and to have balanced activities by autonomous police committee members," and added, "We will support the prompt rooting of the autonomous police system in local communities through related system improvements."

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