"I'm Here to Surrender"... Police Lacked Awareness and Manuals

It has been confirmed that a robbery and injury suspect who walked into a provincial police agency faced no particular restrictions or containment in the building until district division officers arrived.

According to Yonhap News reports on July 28, a man in his 40s identified as A came to the first-floor lobby of the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency at 9:55 a.m. that day and confessed to his crime.

At the time, suspect A was being tracked by police on charges of threatening a convenience store owner with a weapon, stabbing them, and fleeing with cash around 5:00 a.m. the previous day (July 27) in Hyoja-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju.

A public service worker in charge of building security initially mistook A for a regular civil petitioner, but upon realizing during their conversation that A had come to turn himself in, the worker reported the matter to the Seobu District Division at 9:59 a.m.

This was because the Seobu District Division is the jurisdictional unit for the convenience store where the crime took place, and it is also the closest police unit, located about 1 kilometer away from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency.

Afterward, officers from the Seobu District Division arrived at the provincial police agency at 10:03 a.m. and arrested A. For nearly five minutes, A stood in a corner of the building lobby without any restraint or control by the police.

Because the fact that A had surrendered was not relayed to the provincial police agency's 112 Integrated Operations Center, none of the more than 500 police officers working in the building were aware of the situation.

In response, a police official explained, "Because 'taking action first and reporting later' takes priority, the Seobu District Division concentrated on dispatch and the arrest. As the swift arrest was carried out, the provincial police agency seems to have only become aware of the situation after the arrest was completed."

The official added, "Public service workers, who are not police officers, lack a manual for responding to people turning themselves in. Furthermore, the report was received through a regular district division extension line rather than a 112 emergency call, which is why grasping the situation was delayed. Using this incident as an opportunity, we will consider establishing relevant manuals."

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