[Letters] Encourage our police officers

This is in response to a letter from one of your readers (“Please be professional, police officers”) in your April 16 edition. I, too, felt great anger when I heard of the horrible incident which happened in Suwon. I also agree with that the police made serious errors in Suwon. However, just blaming our police officers emotionally is not right. Generally speaking, Korean police officers are really doing their job.

When we talk about the efficiency of the police department, two factors need to be accounted for: preventing crime and arresting criminals. Efficiency of the two duties correspond to the crime rate and ratio of arrest. According to the statistics made by ICPO (International Criminal Police Organization) in 2008, the crime rate in Korea was about 1.66 percent, much less than in other OECD countries, including France (6.67 percent). Also, statistics show that Korea has had the highest arrest ratio throughout several years. These data show we have some pretty good police.

Although they do sometimes screw up, we need to trust our police officers because they are really trying hard to make a safer society. Prevailing distrust will cause more problems. In order to prevent horrible incidents like in Suwon, let’s support our police officers with continuous concern and watchfulness. Don’t just blame and disparage them emotionally. Encouragement is a better way to make our officers work better.

Ko Kwon-woo, an undergraduate student at KAIST