Nate conducts poll about possible creation of Netizen Crime Scene Investigations

[tokyocinema.livejournal.com]

58% (2770 votes) – Agree, helpful (Resource of netizens and manpower is undeniable) :
40% (1942 votes) – Disagree, does not help (Creates confusion in investigations, can skew facts) :
2% (89 votes) – etc.

Popular Korean portal site NATE recently conducted a poll regarding the impact of the possible official establishment of the NCSI (Netizen Crime Scene Investigations) to crime fighting in Korea.

In the poll conducted, 58% (2770 votes) agreed that the NSCI would be helpful because the resources and manpower of netizens is undeniable. 40% (1942) disagreed, saying that they thought the NSCI would not help, instead creating confusion in investigations and potentially skewing facts.

The debate over the establishment of the NSCI sparked after netizens greatly helped solve the recent hit-and-run casecommonly known as the “Cream Bread Father” case. A man, on his way home with his father’s favorite pastry, cream bread, was hit and killed by culprit who initially fled from the scene. However, due to netizens who found and spread details about the incident, the culprit eventually turned himself in to the police.

Although this is the most recent case, it was not the first time, as K-netizens had shown their resourcefulness and diligence in investigating, time and time again. Supporters of the movement to establish the NSCI think that netizens could be a great contribution to the crime fighting scene in Korea.

One such supporter, Kim Duho, a netizen who greatly contributed to the “Cream Bread Father” case, talked about the benefits of forming the NSCI, saying “Because netizens are not bound by space or time, it is possible to gather and share information and to efficiently use that information to make sense of the smallest details.”

However, others still remain skeptical of the formation of the NSCI due to many reasons, such as past cases where the truth was skewed by the biased views of some netizens. The police are particuarly skeptical, saying, “Although it is undeniable that netizens aid in raising awareness and spreading information, they tend to focus on identifying culprits more than taking the circumstances into account. There have been cases where individuals who were wrongly identified suffered from mass online attacks. The netizens also have no way in discerning whether or not the result of their investigations is wrong or not.”

Poll: What are your thoughts on the establishment of a 'Netizen Investigation Unit'?

1. Agree, it will help 58%
2. Disagree, it won't help 40%
3. Other 2%

The debate was brought up because of recent netizen involvement in the investigations for the 'Cream Bread Father' case (a man was hit and killed in a drunk driving accident which led the country on a nationwide search for the culprit. Police initially thought it was a luxury car but netizens from a car cafe inspected CCTV more closely and found it to be a different car which ultimately resulted in the culprit turning himself in).

1. [+191, -13] Netizens are merely netizens, they cannot be the police.

2. [+185, -11] I think we should leave it the way it is now... netizens who are interested can volunteer their services.

3. [+142, -10] I'd be scared of witch hunting and the people's court

4. [+19, -0] I don't think it's right. I know that netizens have helped a lot in solving cases but like the best replies have stated, netizens are just netizens, nothing more or less. Investigations should be left to experts and professionals of the field. Netizens create bigger chances of the spread of false information and witch hunting. Too many risks to outweigh the benefits.

5. [+15, -0] Netizen investigations have of course helped but who's going to take responsibility for the spread of false information and the witch hunting of innocent victims? It's laughable that such an idea is even being proposed... does it mean that our police are not fit for these jobs or are we simply lacking in such forces? We should not be focusing our attention on establishing netizen investigation forces but on hiring better presidents and politicians who can strengthen our police forces.

6. [+11, -0] Netizens have no sense of responsibility. Once people can hide behind an anonymous name, all sense of truth disappears.

7. [+10, -2] Honestly against it. If they do go through with it, they're going to have to make it so that every netizen has to connect their account to their name and face. So many netizens have done crazy things behind anonymous accounts.

8. [+8, -0] Netizens should be able to help voluntarily. They should not be given rights.

9. [+7, -0] This topic is even up for debate because police distort the truth so much and it's become harder and harder to trust our police forces. Even the 'Cream Bread Father' case, the police are the ones who were investigating the wrong thing.


Sources: News Donga, Koreaboo, Nate, Netizenbuzz

Comments

[leopolitan.livejournal.com]

what a nonsensical idea...whats wrong with just leaving a tip line open to the public??

[shintotchi.livejournal.com]

It's a bad time when a serious debate is put up for citizen justice. If the faith in the police is that low, then what else can you do?

[4minutesluts.livejournal.com]

“Because netizens are not bound by space or time,"

umm nah dog pretty sure relativity still applies to internet nerds

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

Maybe Dr. Who is a Korean netizen?

[msgrottesca.livejournal.com]

Yep, no. Netizens would turn every investigation into a baseless witch hunt. What a terrible idea to even discuss.

[undeniablysarah.livejournal.com]

Is this even a serious question. No netizens should not have police/detective rights.

[momomoing.livejournal.com]

or the police could, you know, actually do their job

[baekpedaling.livejournal.com]

Maybe a volunteer force brought in for certain cases? But actually nah. Just a terrible idea no matter which way you look at it.

Can you imagine if the crime involved an idol or actor?

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

um witnessing real-time as reddit went on a witch hunt to find the boston marathon terrorist and out the personal information of various innocent people in the process i know for a fact that this is a fucking terrible idea.

[agoongprincess.livejournal.com]

who even thought this was a good idea.

[syimato.livejournal.com]

No. Although i do agreed that they really did a good job finding proofs and such, just leave this matter to professionals. They can voluntarily help but that is as far as it goes. Netizens can bring a lot of unnecessary oil to the fire.

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

Are they for real? No! If the police need help with cyber crimes, then they should start recruiting techs and people who go to college for that type of shit. Or just do what my gov't does and hire hackers of their own. Your avg netizen can be scary enough, don't give them a fucking badge D: