Gov’t puts forward same solution against criminals ripping off electronic ankle bracelet

Minister of Justice Park Beom-kye apologized on Monday to the public regarding Kang who ripped off his electronic ankle bracelet and killed two women. The ministry announced measures to prevent damages to ankle bracelets in just one day after Kang turned himself to the police in consideration of the public’s criticism.

“I offer my sincere apology to people for the crimes committed by a perpetrator under electronic monitoring,” said Minister Park to the press on his way to the Gwacheon Government Complex. He added that there are still limitations in terms of physical and human resources for monitoring. “For the electronic monitoring system to effectively prevent second offenses, changes in budget, human resources, and organizational culture are required.”

In the following briefing by the ministry, using a more durable material for the strap was put forward as a measure to prevent damages to ankle bracelets. The ministry has strengthened the material on six occasions since the first introduction of electronic ankle bracelets in 2008. Despite such efforts, there have been cases of ripping them off, including 13 people this year.

The ministry also decided to strengthen punishment in case of damaging electronic ankle bracelets. Under the current Act on Probation and Electronic Monitoring, those who damage electronic ankle bracelets are subject to imprisonment with labor for not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding 20 million won. Despite the law, most of them are sentenced to one year or less in prison. The ministry also announced that it will improve the cooperation system with the police by expanding the scope of information to be shared to quickly arrest the offenders who damaged ankle bracelets.

However, such measures are under criticism to have no practical effect as they were announced without a concrete budgeting plan and simply the repetition of theoretical solutions.


Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com