Improvements in public security system urgent

Police chief Cho Hyun-oh offered to step down Monday, taking responsibility for police officers’ poor response to a rape victim’s emergency phone call.

With just two days remaining before the National Assembly elections, the incident may deal a blow to the ruling Saenuri Party that is in a close battle with the main opposition Democratic United Party.

Delivering his statement of apology, Cho, commissioner of the National Police Agency (NPA), expressed his deep condolences to the victim's family and asked for forgiveness. However, his apology won’t be enough to console the soul of the poor victim and relieve the suffering of her family members.

We see Cho’s resignation as a matter of course after witnessing a string of incompetent and irresponsible actions committed by police officers. What’s more lamentable is that some police officers tried to cover up the case in an effort to conceal their incompetence, negligence and blunders.

Cho blamed himself for the carelessness of the police and the horrendous results it led to, but his belated apology wouldn’t change anything.

On the surface, the incident might be a simple kidnap, rape and murder case. But the case actually has revealed all the serious problems that have lurked in officialdom, including the police, which have been doing little ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections.

The body of the 28-year-old victim was found in Suwon, south of Seoul, in the morning of April 2, about 13 hours after she called the police for help. A recording of the phone call revealed that she reported the exact location where she was being raped.

It’s shocking to hear a lot of blunders committed by police during the 13 hours. First, police failed to effectively respond to a call for help from the victim. There were about 20 officers on duty at the emergency center but no response was made in the critical eight minutes after the call. That’s because of the lack of specialization in our 112 emergency call system. Surprisingly, only one-fifth of about 1,400 police dispatchers usually undergo just two weeks of training.

The police search was sloppy enough to anger people who are beset with looming economic woes. Police officers were reportedly sent to an area about 10 meters away from the crime scene minutes after the phone call but they were not active in searching nearby houses. The victim could have been saved if the dispatched officers had searched the houses more actively.

What’s most intolerable is that police lied several times to try to cover up their ``misdeeds.’’

The latest rape-murder case shouldn’t stop with the resignation of the police chief. Of course, police should streamline its public security system, including the emergency call system, and let those who were negligent and made blunders responsible for their incompetence.

More importantly, police should focus on ensuring ordinary people’s rights to live peacefully and safely, not paying excessive attention to their fight with the prosecution over investigative rights.