Police Officers Prosecuted for Criminal Acts Increase Despite Expanded Authority from Investigation Rights Adjustment

Kim Hyung-dong, member of the People Power Party./Photo by Kim Hyung-dong, Office of the People Power Party lawmaker

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Although the police's investigative authority has been expanded due to the adjustment of investigative rights between the prosecution and the police, it has been found that there were a total of 1,157 cases in the past five years where police officers committed criminal acts and were prosecuted.

On the 23rd, Kim Hyung-dong, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, analyzed the "Notification Status of Police Officer Crime Disposition Results" submitted by the National Police Agency. The number of cases where police officers committed crimes and were prosecuted was confirmed to be 158 in 2016, 204 in 2017, 242 in 2018, 222 in 2019, and 219 last year. In the first half of this year, there were 112 cases, bringing the total to 1,157 since 2016.

By type of crime, drunk driving was the most frequent with 364 cases, followed by traffic accidents with 218 cases, sexual violence with 105 cases, violence with 86 cases, and bribery with 74 cases. Insults and defamation were also confirmed in 33 cases, while violations of personal information protection and official secret leakage each accounted for 26 cases. Fraud and obstruction of business were 18 cases each, dereliction of duty and abuse of authority 16 cases, threats 15 cases, violations related to real estate laws and falsification of official documents 13 cases each, and perjury reached 12 cases.

In particular, 22 police officers were disciplined for official secret leakage, which involves leaking secrets learned through their duties. One officer was prosecuted in both 2016 and 2017, four in 2018, four in 2019, eight in 2020, and eight in the first half of this year. A Senior Superintendent A from Ulsan Police Agency sent investigation details of a forced molestation case involving a civilian to an acquaintance via text message, and Sergeant B from Seoul Police Agency inquired twice about crackdowns on prostitution establishments to colleagues and also relayed the information to an acquaintance.

Additionally, this year, an investigator from Daegu Police Agency was prosecuted for abuse of authority and dereliction of duty after seizing cash from a suspect who was voluntarily accompanying them on suspicion of fraud without a warrant. Over the past five years, a total of 16 people were prosecuted for "abuse of authority and dereliction of duty," with 14 receiving disciplinary action.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "Although the police have gained powerful authority through the adjustment of investigative rights, failure to properly control this has led to power-related crimes such as official secret leakage and abuse of authority. To enhance public trust, the police themselves must re-examine their internal control systems."