Crime and Justice International Magazine - Sam Houston State University

The Korean Police is not exempt from violence by citizens. Many field officers, such as patrol officers and criminal detectives, are often exposed to violence from citizens, and sometimes the officers are injured. Though the risk of violence at the hands of suspects is regarded as an inevitable element of police work, nevertheless the violent encounters in Korea are still beyond full and complete understanding. Even though the majority of violence against police officers occurs when they attempt to arrest suspects or deter criminal activities, many other violent incidents take place in association with misdemeanor cases or even without any specific reason. While the former violent incidents are more likely to be “reactive” in nature, the latter appear to be more “proactive.” In other words, some suspects resort to violent methods as a reaction to an officer’s intervention, but others initiate violent confrontations on their own without any provocation by the officers. The proactive use of violence is important because it can be seen as an expression of the public’s negative perception of the police in Korea. People who had previous contact with police officers, for example, may have a negative perception that the police are corrupt or unfair. Since such a negative perception of the police can function as a catalyst for the use of violence against police officers, it is often impossible to explain public violence against officers properly, simply by resorting to the circumstantial factors surrounding the assaults. Thus, a proper explanation of such proactive assaults requires sufficient understanding of how citizens perceive the police.