Front Side is Me, Back Side is You... Police Decide Promotion by Tossing Coin

Introduced to Enhance Competence but Instead Causes Conflict
Criticism Over Ambiguous Promotion Criteria Within Police Ranks

A police district team working in Gyeonggi-do achieved the second-highest performance nationwide and became eligible for team promotion, but it has been revealed that the promotion candidate among those of the same rank was decided by a coin toss, sparking controversy. On the 1st, Yonhap News reported that Team A of the Ingye Police District under Suwon Nambu Police Station won second place nationwide at the first half of the year team promotion selection competition held by the National Police Agency on the 19th of last month.

The team promotion selection competition was introduced last year to expand team-based promotions and enhance the capabilities of police officers working in district units such as police districts. This year, a total of 17 teams nationwide were reviewed by the National Police Agency, resulting in 7 teams selected from first-class jurisdictions (large city police stations) and 2 teams from second to third-class jurisdictions (small and medium city police stations). According to the system, a total of 6 promotion rights were granted, with 1 to 2 persons per rank below the rank of lieutenant.

The problem arose because Team A included two members, Mr. B and Mr. C, who held the same rank, and only one of them could be promoted. In particular, since they each showed different achievements in field and office duties, it was difficult to determine who had higher performance. Accordingly, Mr. B and Mr. C mutually agreed to decide the promotion candidate by tossing a coin, and it was confirmed that the coin toss was conducted in front of some staff to select the promotion candidate.

A police official stated, "There is no standard on how to select a candidate when there are multiple candidates according to the promotion regulations, which causes conflicts among members," adding, "We considered deciding by vote, but thought it might harm teamwork, so we did not proceed with that."

Within the police, there are also criticisms that the 'coin toss' method of selecting promotion candidates reflects a systemic problem. The ambiguous criteria for selecting promotion candidates rather reduce work motivation, leading to situations where a 'coin toss' becomes inevitable.

One police official told Yonhap News, "Since police work involves not only arresting criminals but also various crime prevention policies, it is impossible to measure performance or contribution precisely," and pointed out, "There is a need to establish a standard to resolve conflicts among members when they arise."