A Study on the Necessity to Revise Crime of Police Violence: A Focus on Police Use of Force Situations

Abusive use of police force is harshly punished as a criminal offence under the Criminal Act of South Korea. Nevertheless, potential litigation risk that police officers face in the line of duty undermines police commitment to the rule of law, which, in turn, endangers the safety and security of the public. Police officers, convicted of using excessive force involving the restraint of the human body, are more likely to encounter Ipso Facto retirement under the Article 27 of the Police Official Act in Korea. Despite the importance of criminal liability issues related to excessive use of police force, few research studies have been conducted on the definition of ‘restraint of the human body’ that appears in the court cases where police officers are criminally charged of using excessive force. In this regard, the current study, for the first time in the country, attempted to analyze a total of 32 criminal cases where police officers and prosecutors are charged of using excessive force involving the restraint of the human body, focusing on the purpose of using force permitted by the Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officers. Upon analysis, the present study found that police officers are found guilty even though they applied excessive force in those cases not directly related to the restraint of the human body. Furthermore, the current study found that a great deal of court cases ended up with suspended imposition of sentence. Finally, the current study proposed several policy implications, including the revision of the current police violence penal code, the induction of fine as a punishment for police violence as well as the creation of universal punishment clause for the entire peace officers.