국가수사본부의 문제점과 한계

It was expected that the result of the Prosecution Office reform and the adjustment of investigation powers would make the national police bigger and more powerful than necessary. To prepare for this situation, it was planned that the new National Police Agency Law would create the local autonomous police and prevent the general police like the chief of police agencies from influencing over investigative police. In this plan, the National Investigation Headquarters would be established to take the independent responsibility of the investigation by national and local police within the National Police Agency. However, the amended law is not what it was planned to be. The National Assembly amended the National Police Agency Law the way it distinguishes the national police affairs, the local autonomous police affairs and the investigative police affairs within the National Police Agency. Previously the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency administered general affairs concerning the national police, supervised the duties of the National Police Agency, and directed and supervised public officials and the heads of national police agencies of each rank under his or her control. The amended law gets rid of the Commissioner’s power to direct the head of the National Investigation Headquarters on specific cases. However, this change cannot reduce the Commissioner’s real influence over the head of the National Investigation Headquarters since the Commissioner has a lot of strings to pull. The commissioner of each local police agency supervises the affairs of the national police in areas under his or her jurisdiction under the command and supervision of the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, and commands and supervises public officials and the heads of national police agencies under his or her control except that the head of the National Investigation Headquarters not the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency directs and supervises the commissioner of each local police agency regarding investigation affairs. The chief of each police station supervises affairs under his or her control in areas under his or her jurisdiction under the command and supervision of the commissioner of the relevant local police agency, and commands and supervises public officials under his or her control. The newly amended law does not prevent the commissioner of each local police agency and the chief of each police station from directing investigative police on specific cases. Most investigations are performed by local police agency and police station, and the commissioner of the local police agency and the chief of police station keep having powers to influence over their investigative police under his or her jurisdiction. All things considered, the purpose of the establishment of the National Investigation Headquarters to prevent administrative police from directing the investigative police on specific cases has failed. The police become more powerful than ever. Nonetheless, it is obvious that once the police abuse their strengthened power, people will demand the police reform again to achieve the purpose of the establishment of the National Investigation Headquarters.