Dear editor,
Regarding an April 15 editorial, ``Corrupt Police,'' I believe that The Korea Times has pinpointed the core of the solution to police corruption.
First, the editorial writer said, ``Police officers should abide by stricter ethics.'' In my opinion, policing as a job is intrinsically prone to corruption because it has regulatory powers over people.
This explains why it is difficult to find corruption-free police organizations. Therefore, we need to regularly implement ethics training for in-service officers or put more weight on ethics in evaluating or recruiting them.
Second, the writer said, ``Police officers should have a stronger will to break corrupt ties.'' For this, we need to introduce the systems that prevent corrupt ties.
For example, we can consider the introduction of the rotation of officers in ``corruption-prone'' areas. Some areas of policing such as Gangnam-gu in southern Seoul are more prone to corruption than others, so the rotation of officers on a three-year to five-year basis will be very effective.
Also, it is a good idea to encourage senior officers working in those areas to declare their assets and financial incomes.
Third, you pointed out that ``police officers should sincerely perform their duty as servants of the people.'' All past governments have failed to carry out police reform.
Perhaps the failure has come from the unrealistic aims of completely eliminating police corruption, leading to a sense of betrayal among the public whenever corrupt activities come to light.
There has also been skepticism even within the police service, whether or not the reform succeeds. We need to set realistic goals to abolish police corruption and keep our vigilance high. It will certainly enable police officers to ``sincerely perform their duty.''
People say that they don't trust police reform pledged by top rulers. It's time that police officers take responsibility for their ethics, and regain trust from the people.
Joey Kim