Acting National Police Agency Chief Stresses "Victim Recovery"... Conducts On-Site Review of Protection System

Declares shift to "people-centered police services"... makes first field visit

Acting National Police Commissioner Kim Jongcheol has embarked on his first field visit to advance “people-centered police services.” He reaffirmed the principle that investigations should prioritize not only apprehending offenders but also helping victims recover.

On October 22, Kim visited Mapo Police Station in Seoul and the Seoul Mental Emergency Joint Response Center to review measures to protect crime victims and the mental emergency response system. The visits were intended to assess response conditions at mental emergency sites, including cases involving crimes between people with personal relationships that have recently emerged as a social issue and a knife rampage at a large commercial facility in Incheon.

Kim Jongcheol, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, inspects crime victim protection measures during a visit to Mapo Police Station in Seoul on the 22nd. Korean National Police Agency.

At Mapo Police Station, Kim received a briefing on the status of crime victim protection and checked how smartwatches used to help ensure victims’ safety operate. At a meeting with police officers responsible for victims and officers specializing in preventing abuse (APOs), he stressed, “Protecting victims’ safety and helping them recover, as well as apprehending offenders, should be treated as an important principle of investigations. I hope you will carefully ensure that safety measures directly linked to the lives of victims of crimes between people with personal relationships work properly.”

At the Seoul Mental Emergency Joint Response Center, which he visited next, he heard about problems and possible improvements in the mental emergency response process. The center combines the response efforts of police and mental health professionals affiliated with local governments. It opened in October 2022 as the first of its kind in the country and laid the groundwork for the expansion of the model into 15 joint response teams nationwide.

Since taking office last month, Kim has been establishing the protection of crime victims, alongside the pursuit of substantive truth, as the foremost principle of police investigations. As the criminal justice system undergoes a transition, he is also focusing on strengthening procedures to protect crime victims’ rights throughout the investigative process while preparing various measures to improve police investigations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.