'Managing 23 People at a Police Substation?' Controversy Over Leadership Deficiency at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station

Early Morning of the 11th, Foreigners Suspected of Gambling Arrested in the Act

Moved to Police Substation and Waited in Meeting Room... 10 Escape Through Window

"Should Have Been Handed Over to Police Station Immediately Upon Arrest" - Regr

Controversy has arisen over the lax attitude of frontline police officers, including negligence in surveillance, in the case of the 'mass escape of suspects' at the Wolgok Police Substation in Gwangsan District, Gwangju Metropolitan City. There is also criticism regarding the lack of command from the Gwangsan Police Station, which was responsible for understanding the overall situation and giving instructions.

It has been pointed out that it was unreasonable for the frontline substation to conduct basic investigations on more than 20 suspects, and that they should have been handed over to the police station immediately after being apprehended at the scene.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the police on the 12th, at around 4:15 a.m. the previous day, police who received a report of 'group gambling' raided the scene and arrested 23 Vietnamese foreign nationals. About an hour and a half later, at around 5:50 a.m., all were moved to the Wolgok Police Substation.

Since there was no space to accommodate them at the substation, the police had them wait in a conference room. Amid the busy situation of arranging an interpreter and calling them one by one for basic investigations, one by one they began to escape through a system window about 20 cm wide. The police only realized this after 10 had fled.

The problem is that the substation did not have the capacity to hold 23 people. In fact, at the time, the Wolgok Police Substation had no space to accommodate them, so they had no choice but to temporarily hold them in a conference room without CCTV or other measures.

The primary issue is that no personnel were assigned to constant surveillance in the conference room where they were held, but the fundamental problem is the criticism that in a case of this scale, they should have been handed over to the Gwangsan Police Station immediately for basic investigation.

The police explained that during the arrest process, the suspects complied willingly and since it was not a serious crime, they judged there was no risk of escape.

However, Wolgok Police Substation is an area with considerable security demand, and due to the nature of frontline substations and police boxes, they must respond immediately when a report comes in. Also, since an interpreter had to be arranged early on a Sunday morning, and considering the possibility of illegal immigrants in an area with many foreigners, there is an opinion that it would have been reasonable to decide to 'bring them directly to the police station instead of the substation.'

A police officer working in another region said, "Managing more than 20 people, especially foreigners who do not communicate well, all at once in a substation or police box is not easy," adding, "Although there is no fixed manual, handing them over to the police station’s integrated duty room and conducting basic investigations there is more efficient."

In response, Gwangju police stated, "Looking at the outcome, it was indeed a mistake, but in cases of serious crimes, suspects are immediately handed over to the police station. However, this case was a simple gambling misdemeanor," and added, "Not all cases can be handed over to the police station, and there are on-site judgment criteria. The substation intended to first separate illegal residents from legal residents."

The duty situation manager at Gwangsan Police Station at the time explained, "We received a report from the violent crime team leader and patrol team leader who were dispatched to the scene that due to the large number of people, basic investigation was difficult on-site, so they planned to move them to the substation for screening before handing them over to each other."

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