“자진신고? 누가?”…내부 비리 대책 쏟아내는 경찰, 임기응변 남발

As the police intensify their crackdown on internal corruption, they are simultaneously implementing measures to control internal corruption. After announcing the establishment of an internal corruption investigation unit, the police have now proposed ways to exempt or reduce punishment for internal corruption whistleblowers. However, there is concern that these reactive measures may not be carefully considered, and could result in unintended consequences.

According to reports from the Chosun Ilbo, on October 13th, the police headquarters approved a revised "Police Officer Prosecutorial Rules" that would allow for the suspension or reduction of punishment for police officers who self-report internal corruption. This follows the announcement of the establishment of an internal corruption investigation unit, and the idea is to activate the "self-report" mechanism due to the difficulty in obtaining external whistle blows in the police's unique nature.

Following that, on October 12th, the police proposed placing only regional police officials in charge of internal monitoring. Recent police corruption cases in Gwangju, Seoul, and Yongin have caused controversy, leading to various control measures being taken. However, there are also criticisms about the effectiveness of these measures and the possibility of unintended consequences.

For instance, the self-reporting of corrupt police is unlikely due to the possibility of them being punished for their actions. Furthermore, the anti-corruption law and whistle-blower protection laws already provide for reduced punishment or protection for government officials who report corruption, leading some to question the purpose of the new legislation.

This has sparked debate over whether the new measures will actually improve the effectiveness of police corruption investigations. Experts have suggested that for these measures to be effective, there needs to be a fundamental discussion on who will scrutinize the reported corruption and how independently they will investigate it.