Negligent Personal Protection Management: Gwangju and Jeonbuk Police Agencies Receive 'Warning Demand'

Missing Subject Information and Smartwatch Device Number Registration
Gaps in Managing Critical Incidents
Selected as an Excellent Case for Budget Savings

Police Agency building.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Amid recent issues raised regarding police protection, such as the murder case in an officetel in Jung-gu, Seoul, and the killing of a woman under police protection and her family in Songpa, it has been confirmed that some metropolitan police agencies received a ‘yellow card’ for lax management of protection targets.

According to the police on the 27th, the National Police Agency recently disclosed the results of a comprehensive audit conducted from August 30 to September 17 this year on the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency and Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency. The National Police Agency requested disciplinary actions for 17 cases of improper work handling identified during the audit and selected 4 exemplary cases.

Regarding the cases requiring disciplinary action, both agencies were found to have improperly handled protection duties for victims and others, receiving warnings and notifications from the National Police Agency. Despite the requirement to thoroughly manage protection targets by registering them in the 112 system and issuing smartwatches according to the ‘Victim Protection and Support Manual,’ basic management flaws were found, such as omission of target information and failure to register smartwatch device numbers.

Problems were also identified in the management of important cases. Since the adjustment of investigative authority between prosecutors and police this year, the police have strengthened case reporting and management to establish responsible investigations. However, shortcomings such as insufficient approval by police station chiefs for important cases and low implementation of related policies, including redefining the role of police station economic team leaders, were pointed out and resulted in caution and notification measures. In the case of Gwangju Police Agency, when a victim report is made, the case should be registered in the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS) and investigation details recorded for management. However, the audit confirmed improper investigation handling, such as proceeding with and closing investigations arbitrarily without case registration.

Furthermore, both metropolitan police agencies were cautioned and warned for neglecting PC management despite the requirement to record videos and preserve files during investigations of child and sexual violence victims, and for insufficient notification of the internet address (URL) of rights guidance videos to sexual violence victims.

Meanwhile, exemplary cases selected include, for Gwangju Police Agency, ▲ efforts to strengthen the compliance information activity system and ▲ budget savings through improvement of TV broadcasting methods in command vehicles; and for Jeonbuk Police Agency, ▲ budget savings on asbestos removal project design fees and ▲ signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for police officers to obtain drone certification.

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