경찰의 신제도화 필요성에 관한 고찰 : 경찰법 개정을 중심으로

Abstract

The 17th Presidential election created the new government. The former governments had formulated several police policies which were not eventually implemented. Such futile polices seemed to result from the lack of independence of the police from political influences. The new government has to establish the new police system based on political independence from various influencing factors. This effort should start from the change of the present police system, particularly the revision of the police act. The police act enacted in 1991 was the result of political manipulation on the basis of political interests at that time, engendering the inherent limits and problems of the present police system. Along with a global trend, the Korean society has also experienced decentralization in almost all aspects. The pluralization and segmentation of society have accelerated decentralization and local governance especially during the last decade. The police system has been, however, one of few sectors which have not experienced such a inevitable trend as decentralization. The Korean police system has remained to be very centralized and influenced by political power, which have hindered the development of the police system. The Korean police should, thus, restructure its system on the basis of the people’s trust which can be build by reconfirming the political independence of the police. The political independence of the police is the cornerstone of the new institutionalization of the Korean police system. It should be established by the revision of the present police act. Such painstaking process only paves the way for the world class police which relentlessly keep an eye on citizen’s security needs. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to suggest the need for new institutionalization of the police system by the revision of the police act from the historical-institutional perspective. This study also aims to provide a theoretical framework and an arena for discourse in order to establish the new police policies based on a new police paradigm.