U.S. and Japan Cannot 'Self-Close' Cases... How Their Handling Methods Differ

[Anchor]

The biggest loophole exposed by this incident is that police officers in charge of missing persons investigations can close cases on their own whim without proper verification. In countries like the U.S. and Japan, such "self-closing" of cases is entirely impossible.

Reporter Kwon Min-kyu looks into how these systems differ from our police's handling of missing persons cases.

[Reporter]

Police Inspector Bu surnamed at the Jeju Seobu Police Station, who "arbitrarily closed" the missing person case of Jang Mi-ran, falsely recorded in the computer system that Jang died in a traffic accident and closed the case. No cross-verification was performed, and the truth came to light only three months later.

This exposed an institutional loophole where a single assigned police officer can independently judge and process the entire procedure from receiving to closing a missing person case.

[Park Jong-chul, Professor of Police Administration at Songwon University: All you have to do is prevent the assigned detective from closing it alone. This is not difficult. There are almost no systems where the approval of the unit leader and division head is not required. Missing persons investigations are structured with dual checks.]

In cities like La Center, Washington, and Waite Park, Minnesota, in the U.S., police investigative units or patrol supervisors are required to approve the closure of missing persons cases.

Some Canadian provinces go a step further, requiring supervisors to leave written records of their approval for case closures.

In particular, in Japan, the chief of the police station that received the report must personally report everything from the occurrence to the closure of a missing person case to police headquarters.

[Yoo Yong-bong, Former President of the Korea Special Judicial Police Association: In Japan, the police station chief already takes an interest and verifies all details of the missing person procedures. That is the difference between our country and Japan.]

Experts also argue that missing persons investigations should not be left solely to the police, but that private detectives or private investigation agencies should be brought into the institutional fold to expand the scale and scope of investigations through public-private cooperation.

[Kwak Dae-kyung, Professor of Police Administration at Dongguk University: Although it is not yet fully legalized, it might be more necessary for the detective industry or private investigation businesses to take on such roles...]

Experts also advise that for missing persons investigations, methods of cooperating with other government ministries, such as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, should be considered.

(Video Editing: Park Choon-bae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.