Police Officer Given Suspended Sentence for Demanding Dinner Money in Exchange for Lenience

A police inspector who demanded dinner money and whiskey from a drunk driving suspect in exchange for lenience, such as advising him to reach a settlement, has been sentenced to prison with a suspended execution.

Incheon District Court Criminal Division 14 (Presiding Judge Son Seung-beom) announced today (August 20) that it has sentenced Police Inspector A, assigned to a police station in Incheon and indicted on charges of demanding a bribe, to six months in prison suspended for one year, along with a fine of 1 million won.

Inspector A was indicted on charges of advising Suspect B, a drunk driving suspect assigned to him in May of last year, to settle with the victims, and demanding 300,000 won for dinner expenses and a bottle of whiskey worth 52,000 won.

Suspect B subsequently reached a settlement with the victims, and Inspector A booked him solely on charges of drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act, excluding the charge of accidental injury under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.

Suspect B was accused of driving approximately 5 kilometers from Michuhol-gu to Yeonsu-gu in Incheon at 12:20 AM on April 25 of last year while in a state of severe intoxication with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.114%, crashing into a taxi that was waiting at a traffic light.

According to the investigation, Inspector A told Suspect B, who appeared for questioning as a suspect, "The investigation went well, and we will be having a team dinner soon. It would be nice if you could support the dinner expenses," and demanded, "Bring 30,000 won in cash to the police station on the day of the dinner."

He also sent a text message to Suspect B saying, "When you come to the police station, please grab a bottle of whiskey from the supermarket."

It was revealed that immediately following the early settlement, Inspector A booked Suspect B solely on the charge of simple drunk driving after interviewing only Suspect B, without taking statements from the victims such as the taxi passengers.

During the trial, Inspector A argued that although he did demand money and valuables from Suspect B, it did not constitute a bribe as there was no connection to his official duties or quid pro quo.

However, the court ruled that Inspector A demanded money and valuables from Suspect B in connection with his typical duties as a police officer, which involve criminal investigation.

Even Suspect B, who had no personal ties to Inspector A, stated during the investigation that upon receiving such a demand, he thought, "This is a bribe, so I shouldn't give it to him."

B even sent a refusal message to Inspector A.

The court pointed out, "A police officer engaged in investigative work actively demanding money and valuables from a suspect first has a high potential to undermine public trust in the fairness of official duty execution, making the culpability heavy."

The court added, "We considered the fact that the defendant received disciplinary actions of three months and two months of suspension over several years in charge of traffic investigation, but also took into account that he is a first-time offender, has served as a police officer for a long period receiving numerous commendations, and that the receipt of the bribe did not actually materialize."

Meanwhile, Inspector A is reported to have received heavy disciplinary action early this year over the incident.

(Photo: Provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.