According to the results of an internal police investigation, the recent incident in which a woman in her 40s was found dead in the back seat of a patrol car was caused by negligent duty.
The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced the findings of the investigation on the 30th, stating, "At the time, officers at the police substation failed to perform their basic duties according to regulations, resulting in the failure to discover the victim earlier."
Namhee Kim, Head of the Community Safety Division at Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, is announcing the results of an internal investigation into the patrol car fatality accident that occurred at Jingyo Police Substation in Hadong Police Station. [Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]
According to the investigation, at around 2:12 a.m. on the 16th, a woman in her 40s, identified as A, entered a patrol car parked in the parking lot of the Jingyo Police Substation under the Hadong Police Station.
A, who sat in the unlocked back seat of the patrol car, was trapped inside and passed away due to the structure of the patrol car’s back door, which does not have an interior handle and cannot be opened from the inside.
At the time A entered the back seat of the patrol car, there were two officers on duty inside the substation and two officers on standby.
According to regulations, the officers on duty are required to sit in a position where they can see the entrance on the first floor, while the standby officers must remain in a state where they can respond within 10 minutes and may rest inside the substation.
However, it was revealed that at the time, two officers on duty and one standby officer were resting in the second-floor dormitory, while the other standby officer was resting in the first-floor meeting room.
As a result, it was determined that no one saw A pulling and shaking the entrance door of the substation three times before entering the patrol car.
Officers are required to lock the car doors when parking or stopping the vehicle, but it was confirmed that after using the patrol car at 4:56 p.m. on the 15th, the officers did not lock the doors.
From 2:12 a.m. on the day A entered the patrol car until around 2 p.m. the following day when she was found deceased, the officers should have used the patrol car for local patrols seven times over a total of eight hours during the 36-hour period, but they did not do so even once.
During the three shift changes over the 36-hour period, the officers also failed to check the cleanliness of the patrol car and whether the in-vehicle breathalyzer was functioning properly, as required during shift changes.
The initial autopsy revealed that A died around 2 p.m. on the 16th, approximately 12 hours after entering the car.
It has been pointed out that if the patrols scheduled between 6-7 a.m., 11 a.m.-12 p.m., and 2-3 p.m. on the 16th, as well as the shift change at 8:30 a.m., had been properly carried out, A could have been discovered earlier.
Namhee Kim, head of the Community Safety Division at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, and department executives are bowing their heads after announcing the results of an investigation into a patrol car fatality accident that occurred at Jinkyo Police Substation of Hadong Police Station. [Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]
The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency has transferred 13 of the 16 Jingyo Police Substation staff members, excluding three who were on leave at the time. Disciplinary procedures for negligent duty related to the incident will also follow.
Kim Namhee, head of the Public Safety Division at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, said, "We offer our condolences to the deceased and express our deepest apologies and sympathy to the bereaved family," adding, "We will thoroughly educate local police and strengthen supervision of duty management to prevent similar incidents from occurring again."
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