Seongnam FC Allegation Investigation Bundang Police Station Performance Evaluation Report 'Grade A'

'Son Jeongmin Case' Seocho Police Station S
Internal Department Also Questions Evaluation System

Bundang Police Station / Photo by Bundang Police Station Homepage Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Sung-pil] It has been confirmed that the Seongnam Bundang Police Station, which dragged out the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund suspicion case for 3 years and 3 months before concluding it as no charges, received an A grade in the frontline police station performance evaluation. As the police station, criticized for inadequate investigation, received a high grade, voices questioning the evaluation system have emerged within the police.

According to the '2021 Frontline Police Station Performance Evaluation Grades' obtained by Asia Economy from the National Police Agency on the 14th, Bundang Police Station received an A grade along with 105 police stations nationwide, including Seoul Gangnam, Gangdong, Gangbuk, and Busan Dongnae and Bukbu Police Stations. The A grade is the second highest grade after S grade and corresponds to about 40% of the 258 police stations nationwide. Bundang Police Station had decided not to prosecute the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund suspicion case last September due to insufficient evidence. Subsequently, controversies over inadequate investigation and leniency arose, and Bundang Police Station is reviewing the case again at the request of the prosecution for supplementary investigation.

The police station performance evaluation grade is determined by combining ▲comprehensive public safety performance ▲customer satisfaction ▲human rights improvement evaluation, etc., and the grade (S~C) directly affects the calculation of performance pay for police officers belonging to frontline police stations. For this reason, frontline police officers are known to respond sensitively to performance evaluations. Some point out that the contradictory evaluation system, where police stations involved in inadequate investigation suspicions receive excellent grades, is problematic.

In fact, Gumi Police Station, which was criticized for closing the investigation without finding the whereabouts of another missing girl in the case of the death of a 3-year-old girl in Gumi, Gyeongbuk last year, also received an A grade. Seoul Seocho Police Station, which failed to clearly clarify the cause of death of Sohn Jeong-min, who went missing at a Han River park in Seoul last April and was found dead, received an S grade, one level higher than that. Seocho Police Station was also at the center of the 'Lee Yong-gu leniency investigation' controversy the previous year but was selected as S grade that year as well. A police officer who requested anonymity said, "The frontline police station performance evaluation has many quantitative evaluation factors, so police stations located in areas with high public safety demand have an advantage in the evaluation."

Regardless of public safety demand, police stations that caused Police Chief Kim Chang-ryong to bow to the public due to inadequate response received lower grades. In November last year, Incheon Nonhyeon Police Station, which suffered backlash due to inadequate response during the so-called 'inter-floor noise stabbing incident' in Jung-gu, Incheon, received a B grade. When public outrage grew due to the inadequate response of police officers at the time, Chief Kim personally apologized and suspended the Nonhyeon Police Station chief. Seoul Yangcheon Police Station, which investigated the 'Jeong-in case,' also received a B grade, one level lower than the previous year. Although the Jeong-in case surfaced in October 2020, a Blue House petition demanding the dismissal of the Yangcheon Police Station chief and the responsible police officers for neglecting child abuse appeared, leading Chief Kim to personally apologize in January last year.

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