Corrupt Police

Question Is How to Clean Up Law Enforcement Agency

It's a shame that the word police has long been modified by such adjectives as corrupt, incompetent and negligent. Every time a new government is installed in South Korea, the top rulers pledge to firmly establish the rule of law and fight corruption. They usually push police reform to usher in a better-performing law enforcement agency to protect people's lives and their assets, prevent crimes, and maintain law and order.

Regrettably, all past governments have failed to make good on their commitments to transform the police into a clean and competent agency working for the people and the nation. Rather, the ruling elite gave in to the temptation to maintain the police as their own servants in a bid to tighten their grip on power and crack down on activists, students, unionists and dissidents. Against this backdrop, police reform has always been put on the back burner even though policymakers ostensibly raised their voices for it.

Things are no different under the leadership of President Lee Myung-bak. After winning the December 2007 election, Lee promised to ensure the rule of law but has made little progress in putting his words into action. Why? Because the Lee administration has done little to strengthen discipline and root out rampant corruption among police officers. It goes without saying that the nation cannot guarantee the rule of law without revamping the dilapidated police agency.

Kang Hee-rak, who took the helm of the National Policy Agency (NPA) on March 9, has vowed to transform the agency into the ``people's police.'' For this, the police chief announced measures to tighten discipline among officers, but no one seems to take the measures seriously. On Sunday, two criminal suspects fled from the detention center of Namdaemun Police Station in central Seoul. This incident took place, as negligent officers did not lock the gate of the center while out for a meal. They weren't even aware of the escape for about 25 minutes.

An officer in uniform turned into a robber in broad daylight in Incheon on March 17. He went to a game parlor, handcuffed a moneychanger and stole 2.6 million won. Four days later, another officer beat a taxi driver to death in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, after a quarrel over taxi fares. These incidents are only the tip of the iceberg and show a lack of discipline on the part of police officers.

What's more serious is widespread corruption. Many officers, especially those stationed in southern Seoul, were found to have extorted money from operators of entertainment facilities, including massage parlors, game rooms, nightclubs and brothels. According to the NPA, 40 officers were subject to disciplinary action for accepting bribes from such facilities last year. Critics said a larger number of bribe-taking officers have not been caught.

It's shocking that an officer was found to have invested in a massage parlor where a co-manager was his mistress. In South Korea, massage parlors are hotbeds for the illegal sex trade. How could police officers develop a symbiotic relationship with those who might face crackdowns?

At the end of last month, the police agency unveiled anti-corruption packages including a self-cleanup campaign, the promotion of whistle blowing and the creation of a team to investigate bribery cases involving the police. What's important is that police officers should abide by stricter ethics and have a stronger will to break corrupt ties and sincerely perform their duty as servants of the people.