National Police Agency Revises Handcuff Use to Discretionary Rule During Suspect Transport... Accepts Human Rights Commission Recommendation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The police have accepted the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission and revised the mandatory use of handcuffs during suspect transport to a discretionary regulation.

On the 7th, the Human Rights Commission announced that the National Police Agency accepted its recommendation and amended the police directive "Rules on Detention and Transport of Suspects" last month.

Previously, the Human Rights Commission had recommended to the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency to revise the directive, which uniformly required the use of police restraints without considering specific situations such as the risk of escape or self-harm and harm to others, so that officers in the field could exercise discretion in determining the necessity of handcuff use.

Accordingly, the National Police Agency accepted the recommendation and amended the directive to a discretionary regulation on the 15th of last month. The agency also accepted the Human Rights Commission's recommendation to conduct job training for officers at each police station to prevent cases of excessive use of police restraints during suspect transport.

The Human Rights Commission stated, "We plan to continuously monitor whether the system is properly established in the future."