July 1, 2021 was a very monumental day for the 1976 Korean police history. This is because the municipal police system was first implemented in the Republic of Korea, which maintained the national police system after the founding of the country. In particular, as 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the revival of local autonomy, it can be uated that the introduction of the municipal police system served as an opportunity to further elevate the local autonomy system.

However, the current municipal police system is uated as an incomplete or transitional model. This is because, instead of the dual model of creating a separate autonomous police organization in addition to the national police organization that was originally planned since the inauguration of the current government, the legislation was implemented by rapidly turning to a unified model in consideration of the national financial power and the confusion of the general public due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Since 2019, the Korea Institute for Criminology and Justice has been conducting research for three years under the title of ‘Municipal Police System in Korea’. Initially, the research was to be conducted on the premise of the introduction of the municipal police system, but as legislation for the introduction of the municipal police system was delayed, the two-year study became a study in preparation for the introduction of the system. It was only after entering the third year of this study that the study was able to return to a normal track, such as measuring the effect of the implementation of the municipal police system in earnest.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the current situation and problems of policies following the implementation of the municipal police system, centered on the city and provincial municipal police committees, and to suggest policy alternatives for the establishment of the system in the future. In the current unification model, the municipal police committee and the secretariat supporting it are the main research subjects of this study, as the municipal police committee and the secretariat supporting it are relatively intact as a self-governing police system. Next, the metropolitan and provincial police agencies, police stations, and district corps and police boxes, which are organizations that execute municipal police affairs under the direction of the municipal police committee, are also the main research subjects of this study. The perception and behavior of police officers in charge of municipal police affairs within these institutions, as well as the policy enforcement method, are very important mechanisms that ultimately determine the success of the municipal police system.

In this study, information disclosure was requested from the National Police Agency and the Municipal Police Committee, and related data were analyzed, and 44 interviews were conducted with a total of 90 related persons. An online survey was conducted on 388 members of the committee and secretariat, and 464 people from city/provincial police agencies and police stations, and through regular surveys of 'Gallup Korea Daily Opinion', public perceptions were also investigated, and related laws and legislative materials related to the municipal police system. A legal analysis was also conducted.

Through this analysis process, our own findings and policy alternatives were presented. There are many policy alternatives that would not have been a problem if they were introduced as a dual model, but it can be seen that there are measures that can be introduced to establish the municipal police system even under the current unification model. We hope that reasonable improvement measures can be derived and implemented through consultations among policy makers.