[News Terms] 'Dialogue Police' Navigating Protest and Rally Sites

'Dialogue Police' are officers who play a role in actively communicating with protesters and citizens at sites of social conflict such as rallies and demonstrations to resolve conflicts.

Dialogue Police mediate by conveying complaints and demands near rally and demonstration sites to the organizers, communicate with participants to support the creation of a peaceful atmosphere, and strive to prevent escalation into physical clashes. They also negotiate when organizers express grievances. They are known as the police who enter the rally or demonstration site first and leave last. Before the rally or demonstration begins, they perform various roles through prior discussions with the executive committee, such as adjusting the rally or demonstration and street march start times, routes, and dispersal times, and preventing friction with other groups.

On August 1, 2018, to prevent various conflicts and clashes occurring at rally and demonstration sites, the system was introduced domestically inspired by Sweden's 'Dialogue Police' and the UK's 'Assembly Liaison Officers.' Subsequently, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (August 15) and Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency (September 18) began pilot operations, and from October 5 of the same year, it was expanded and implemented nationwide.

The recent street protest scene. Among the protesters, 'Dialogue Police' who communicate with the demonstrators are actively working.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

The introduction of Dialogue Police reflects a paradigm shift in rally and demonstration response from past 'management and suppression' to 'guaranteeing peaceful assemblies and protecting participants.' In the past, 'intelligence police' performed this role, but unlike the current Dialogue Police, intelligence police focused more on surveillance and control rather than communication with protesters.

Dialogue Police are intelligence officers belonging to frontline police station intelligence divisions, and currently, 1,714 intelligence officers are actively working at rally and demonstration sites nationwide. They operate openly at these sites to mitigate aggressive behavior by participants and to restrain excessive suppression by riot police. For this reason, they are required to wear uniforms marked with 'Dialogue Police' on the back.

According to the study titled 'An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Korean-style Dialogue Police System' published in the Korean Police Science Review in June 2021, police stations where Dialogue Police are active showed about a 55% reduction in illegal protests compared to those without, and the duration of rallies and demonstrations decreased by approximately 3%.