SEOUL– Justice Minister Park Beom-kye said Friday the ministry will work out anti-crime measures to “fundamentally reduce recidivism” among high-risk sexual offenders, in the wake of alleged murders by an ex-convict.
The minister said at a briefing that the ministry will amend the relevant law to allow investigators to immediately conduct a search operation and house raid when and if high-risk ex-convicts remove their electronic ankle devices and run off.
Earlier this week, police arrested Kang Yoon-seong on suspicion of killing two women before and after he cut off his ankle bracelet and fled. The 56-year-old ex-offender, with 14 previous criminal convictions, walked into a police station in eastern Seoul on Sunday and confessed to murdering the two women he had known.
The ministry said it will set up a response team at probation offices nationwide to swiftly deal with violations of the law on electronic surveillance, an offense punishable by up to seven years in prison or 20 million won (US$17,000) in fines.
Other measures included enhanced cooperation between probation offices and police by sharing information on criminals wearing such a device, an introduction of an improved system to gauge the risk of recidivism, and hiring more probation officers to reduce their workload. According to the ministry, a total of 281 probation officers monitor 17.3 convicts each.
The minister said he learned that there were also “lack of information-sharing between prisons and probation offices” and an “insufficient control system” for released prisoners.
“It is necessary to put in place a management system dedicated to high-risk ex-convicts,” he said, adding the probation officers should not let their guard down in tracking and supervising the conduct of convicted offenders.
The ministry is also considering expanding a housing program to high-risk ex-convicts, as part of efforts to prevent them from relapsing. Currently the program is run for those who cannot afford their own houses after release from prison.
On Monday, the ministry said it will make the monitoring bracelet harder to cut off, as incidents of forcible removal of the device have repeatedly occurred. Thirteen criminals have cut off the device as of August this year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency