[The Police File] Cynical Views of Young Police Officers

As I come and go through the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, my workplace as a reporter, I encounter numerous police officers. Across from the press room is the 112 officers' waiting room, where I often chat with MZ generation officers. Although they must have passed through high competition to get here, their expressions and tones are not very bright. While the police have been embroiled in various controversies, I was able to understand the meaning behind their expressions a little more after reading a recent report. It is a 160-page report titled "Individual and Organizational Characteristics of Korean Police," released earlier this month by the Police University-affiliated Institute of Police Policy Research. The opinions of 1,130 officers, accounting for 10% of the police organization, were reflected. Most respondents were patrol officers and corporals in their 20s and 30s who patrol the security field, the same age group as those I meet daily. True to the MZ generation's sensitivity to fairness issues, they clearly expressed awareness of unfairness. Half of the respondents (49.4%) answered "yes" to the statement "Key positions within the police organization depend on connections rather than work performance," while only 14.9% answered "no." For the statement "Good suggestions for organizational change are not well reflected," 42.0% answered "yes," whereas only 14.2% answered "no."

The outlook on the organization's future is also negative. To the statement "The leadership within the organization is not passionate," 42.2% responded "yes," and 36.2% said "The organization's future is not hopeful." Complaints about unfair police organizational management and broken internal communication are widespread. Although society has become more fair and transparent through democratization, and the police organization has made efforts at self-purification, it still falls short of the members' expectations.

External evaluations are not much different. In the "Public Institution Integrity" assessment announced by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission at the end of last year, the police received the lowest rating, "Grade 5." Among 47 central administrative agencies, the Police Agency was the only one to receive a Grade 5. While the internal integrity rating was Grade 3, the comprehensive integrity rating, which reflects the general public's evaluation, placed the police at the bottom. This indicates how serious the public perceives police corruption issues to be.

One factor for the lack of improvement in perception is the lack of objective evaluation standards. Currently, police position management mainly relies on the subjective evaluation of personnel authorities, personal relationships, and intimacy. There is no proper mechanism to check arbitrary work performance ratings that greatly influence promotions or personnel transfers. Because of this, it has become customary during personnel seasons to cultivate connections with senior officials and mobilize networks. Senior executives often make requests through power groups such as the presidential office or the ruling party. There has even been talk recently at high-level personnel appointments that "those objectively proven to have work ability are omitted from promotion, while those close to the regime advance."

In any organization, the essence of management is "reward and punishment." If giving rewards commensurate with achievements, assigning positions suitable for abilities, and imposing penalties corresponding to mistakes are even slightly disrupted, discipline inevitably weakens. Furthermore, organizational vitality declines, and trust from the public is lost. This is fatal for the police, who must uphold law and order based on strict discipline. Discussing social justice without objective and fair personnel management is self-contradictory. The police are an organization that lives on morale. Without reforming structural chaos, it seems difficult to see the bright expressions of MZ generation police officers we will meet tomorrow.

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