An active police officer at a local police precinct has posted a public petition demanding the impeachment of the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency.
According to the National Assembly’s Public Consent Petition website on the 3rd, a post titled “Petition Requesting Impeachment Over the Commissioner General’s Orders Leading to the Deaths of Police Officers and Citizens” was uploaded the previous day.
The author is Inspector Kim Geonpyo, a 27-year veteran police officer currently serving at the Sineo Precinct of the Gimhae Jungbu Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province.
He stated, “The Commissioner General is neglecting his duties and, instead of presenting measures to address the recent consecutive deaths of police officers, is enforcing orders that drive police officers and innocent citizens to death by willful negligence,” adding, “I strongly request the impeachment of the Commissioner General.”
Inspector Kim strongly criticized the recently issued “Measures to Improve Supervision and Management Systems for Local Police Stations” that were distributed to frontline officers.
These measures were established following an incident in August, when a woman in her 40s who had been reported missing was found dead in the back seat of a patrol car at the Jingyo Police Substation under Hadong Police Station, 36 hours after the report was filed.
At the time, the South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency revealed through an investigation that the officers on duty failed to follow basic work regulations, which resulted in the victim not being discovered sooner.
According to the investigation, the officers on duty were resting in the dormitory and meeting room, which caused them to miss the victim pulling and shaking the substation door. They also left the patrol car unlocked and failed to conduct vehicle patrols and internal checks, exposing poor work performance.
It was pointed out that if patrol duties and shift changes had been properly carried out, the woman trapped in the back seat?which cannot be opened from the inside?would have been found much sooner.
In response, the National Police Agency established new measures requiring field officers to record the patrol car’s location and reason for stopping on the internal police network every two hours, and to report the location, work status by time, and any vehicle abnormalities via radio. These measures were distributed to the organization starting on the 26th of last month.
Inspector Kim stated, “I cannot accept the Commissioner General’s directive to strengthen surveillance of active police officers, while failing to properly address the excessive workload and manpower shortages suffered by officers.”
“This directive essentially demands that officers patrol non-stop for 24 hours, be subjected to triple surveillance, and have every move in the office and patrol car monitored by CCTV and GPS for the purpose of disciplinary action,” he pointed out, adding, “It is an illegal and unjust order.”
The petition posted by Inspector Kim has met the minimum requirement of 100 signatures and has entered the petition review stage.
If the petition receives 50,000 signatures within 30 days of posting, it will be referred to the relevant standing committee of the National Assembly.
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