Police need safeguards against favoritism

A “dinosaur police force” with sweeping authority over criminal cases is about to emerge. The revised Criminal Procedure Act takes effect Friday, abolishing prosecutors’ supplementary investigative authority. Police will handle ordinary criminal cases from the opening of an investigation through its conclusion.

Korea faces its biggest transformation of its criminal justice system in 72 years, yet confusion persists on the ground. The organizations of the new investigative agencies remain incomplete, case transfers remain unsettled and investigative disruptions appear unavoidable.

Concerns are growing that police-affiliated organizations, including associations of retired officers and police development councils, could exert influence or pressure, compromising investigations through preferential treatment for former police officers. Such groups could facilitate informal inquiries, requests and outside pressure in individual cases.

With prosecutorial powers curtailed, there is scope for investigations to be distorted or cases suppressed from the outset. Rules prohibit private contact with retired officers and require such contacts to be reported internally, but they have not functioned effectively.

Another loophole involves police officers at or below the rank of senior superintendent who hold law licenses. Because they are excluded from employment screening under the Public Service Ethics Act, law firms have increasingly recruited former police officers, creating risks that personal connections could influence cases.

A bill aimed at preventing preferential treatment for former police officers was proposed in February, but police opposed it. Cases including the murder of a high school girl in Gwangju have shown that concerns about improper ties involving police investigations are not merely hypothetical. Yet the police appear unwilling to relinquish postretirement opportunities.

Police are about to wield vastly expanded investigative power, but both internal controls and safeguards against preferential treatment for former officers remain inadequate.

The government and police must act. Stronger disclosure requirements are needed for contacts between investigators and former officers, along with enforceable rules governing outside approaches concerning pending cases. Employment screening should also be strengthened where postretirement jobs could create conflicts of interest.

Expanded authority requires stronger accountability. If police are to exercise dominant authority over investigations affecting citizens’ daily lives, they must demonstrate that cases cannot be influenced through personal networks, former colleagues or affiliated organizations. Without credible safeguards, reform intended to reshape the criminal justice system risks replacing one concentration of investigative power with another.