Analysis of Environmental Special Judicial Police Personnel and Inspection Status Data
Inspection Rate of Hangang Basin Environmental Office at 0.3% in the Last 5 Years
Im Ija "Need to Solve the Manpower Shortage of Environmental Special Judicial Police"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] It has been revealed that the inspection rate of pollutant-emitting business sites by the Environmental Special Judicial Police (Environmental Special Police) under each regional environmental office over the past five years is only about 1% on average.
On the 22nd, Lim E-ja, a member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee from the People Power Party, announced that this was confirmed after analyzing the personnel and inspection status data of the Environmental Special Police submitted by each regional environmental office. The Environmental Special Police investigate various environmental crimes, collect related evidence, and conduct inspections of pollutant-emitting business sites.
According to Representative Lim, over the past five years, the inspection rate of pollutant-emitting business sites by the Environmental Special Police of each regional environmental office (Hangang River Basin Environmental Office, Jeonbuk Regional Environmental Office, Wonju Regional Environmental Office, Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office, Daegu Regional Environmental Office, Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, Geumgang River Basin Environmental Office) is only about 1% on average. In particular, the inspection rate of the Hangang River Basin Environmental Office's Environmental Special Police was found to be as low as 0.3%.
This year, the number of Environmental Special Police personnel at the Jeonbuk Regional Environmental Office decreased from 7 last year to 6.
Despite the increase in the number of business sites subject to inspection at the Geumgang River Basin Environmental Office, Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office, and Wonju Regional Environmental Office?from 38,137 to 42,371, 81,492 to 84,734, and 29,882 to 32,423 respectively?personnel numbers remained the same, resulting in an increased number of business sites per inspector.
Representative Lim stated, "As of August this year, among the 297,507 pollutant-emitting business sites managed by 16 Environmental Special Police officers at the Hangang River Basin Environmental Office, only 199 sites were inspected, resulting in an inspection rate of less than 0.07%. Over the past five years, the inspection rate of pollutant-emitting business sites by each regional environmental office barely exceeds 1%, which is a serious situation."
She added, "I question whether the Environmental Special Police system is effective," and pointed out, "The biggest reason for the low inspection rate is the ridiculously insufficient personnel compared to the number of business sites to be inspected."
She emphasized, "As years go by, environmental crimes are evolving with various methods. We must solve the personnel shortage problem of the Environmental Special Police to increase the inspection rate of pollutant-emitting business sites and eradicate various environmental crimes that threaten public safety."
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