New Police Guideline Makes it Easier for the Fuzz to Search Homes

[uledy.livejournal.com]

A new police guideline will give police officers more leeway in entering and searching houses as part of efforts to better pre-empt serious crimes, police said Sunday.

The guideline on emergency house searches permits police officers to defy a resident’s refusal and enter the house in case a murder or serious violence is suspected to be happening in the house, according to the police.

The guideline also allows police officers to search houses even without a court-issued search warrant in case the officers find evidence of crime or a crime in progress there.

The National Police Agency has recently handed out the guideline to police stations across the country and begun to implement it, according to the police.

Previously, refusals by residents prohibited police officers from entering and searching their houses despite suspicions of criminal activity.

Police are guided to resort to forcibly entering and searching a house if a serious crime, such as robbery, rape or murder, is suspected, the suspect is carrying a firearm or serious human damage is expected, according to the new guideline.

The police also said before searching houses under the new guideline, officers are required to present their identification to residents and give an explanation to them before using force in order to minimize possible privacy or human rights invasions.

“The guideline has been drawn up and handed out because the police determined that the right (to enter and search houses) was necessary to protect citizens’ lives and properties from increasingly serious crimes,” an official at the National Police Agency said.

Source: Yonhap via The Korea Herald 

yea...no. 

Comments

[darkpeppermints.livejournal.com]

In the US there was a law passed a few months ago that allowed police to arrest anyone without cause in buildings and on the street.

[hellicoptajuuce.livejournal.com]

is this in the name of 'terrorism'?

[seung-is-my-ho.livejournal.com]

federal or state?? that's blantantly against the constitution.

[annhh.livejournal.com]

I like this new guideline. I don't understand how they managed before. My guess is though, they didn't.

[aleexnews.livejournal.com]

yes these measures are needed so that all those fucked up cases happening can go down, like that one where the 20 y/o student killed his mom and had her dead body hidden in their house for 8 months? jfc no.

i'd rather police storm into someone's house and perhaps be wrong, then have people die because they had to wait on a warrant.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

ia, and they said it's for cases of quite severe crime so I can't imagine they'd bust in just because they suspect you are committing a very harmless, minimal offense..I assume.

[uledy.livejournal.com]

idk, if you give a mouse a cookie...

[hellicoptajuuce.livejournal.com]

totz against this

[sydeast.livejournal.com]

Finally! As I read this, I kept thinking of that poor woman who called police as she was being raped and when the police came to where she was, they didn't get permission to come in. I think they knocked on the door and no one answer so they left. She turned up dead and chopped up. I understand that this guideline sounds bad, but I think it can save many lives.

[chibiyunie.livejournal.com]

OMG, that is just horrible O_O

[erisinia.livejournal.com]

Well, didn't they previously hang back not doing shit while someone was being brutally raped and murdered?

As long as this is used for "No sir, I hear pained and panicked screams coming from your house, I'm coming in" instead of "LOL WHAT RIGHTS, IMMA COME IN NOW BECOZ UR FACE IS SUSPICIOUS"

[0nlymemories.livejournal.com]

So... They now have the same procedure as American law enforcement. You don't have to have a search warrant to enter a private property if you have reason to believe a crime is taking place. This is why you get cops kicking in doors when there are signs of struggle on TV shows all the time- They're not making that up.

If a crime *isn't* taking place the owners of the property can sue for damages, but yeah. This is not some sort of nightmarish police state thing, it's giving cops the ability to actually protect and serve.

*shrug* I am not really seeing why this is a problem, but then, I failed the anti-police part of my Liberal Arts College Educated Snob test.

[seung-is-my-ho.livejournal.com]

I know that applies to cases where cop has full reason to believe there's "imminent danger" to someone inside the house, like domestic violence. or if they are chasing a suspect in "hot pursuit" into their home. but they can't go in without a warrant if they believe you have a meth lab, stolen stuff, ect.

[0nlymemories.livejournal.com]

This is essentially a rewording of the same principle. Prior to this Korean law enforcement couldn't enter a private residence without permission even if there was imminent danger. It's why "Vampire Prosecutor" is structured the way it is, the supernatural DA-equivalent is basically a wish fulfillment fantasy for law enforcement.

I'm pretty okay with it being adjusted to be slightly broader than the American equivalent law, because families can (and will) sue for damages if they break in fraudulently, but it gives cops a chance to actually do their jobs. (I also really appreciate that in SK domestic violence is considered a crime against the common good, which means they can prosecute without the spouse having to testify/file a complaint. That is one of the things about American law that drives me nuts. If only general rape (as opposed to spousal or child rape, which are already covered) could be classified the same.)

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Wasn't this voted because of several cases of domestic violence where husbands would refuse to let the police in, and they couldn't do a thing even when they could hear he was beating his wife???

I fell like I've read about it a few months back...

[45s.livejournal.com]

ditto.

i wanna see how this works out bc like, in cases like that, this can help. but i don't trust most cops.

[seung-is-my-ho.livejournal.com]

that's horrible. I'm surprised they didn't have this law in place a long time ago.

[erisinia.livejournal.com]

I think people who are really against this don't realize just how much of a joke the police force is in South Korea. There's a reason there aren't police procedurals here, even though those are like the most common thing in the US--it's because cops aren't considered to be admirable or trustworthy. People take care of their own shit, generally, and most people do't join the force because they want justice...it's because they couldn't get another job. Laws like this, seems to me, aren't like giving an extra yard to a power-hungry institution, but giving some power to something without. (remember that traffic accident post where they said that watching movies in your car is 'illegal' but there is no punishment? that kind of thing, lol)