[From Readers] Police Academy alumni must be prudent

The General Alumni Association of the Korea National Police University`s issuing of a statement in connection with the controversy over the dismissal of National Police Agency chief in line with the riot police`s brutal crackdown on the protesting unionists of Daewoo Motor in Inchon is sending a wave of repercussion throughout the nation.

The alumni association has drawn public eyes with its issuance of special statements whenever some issues were raised concerning the police. What raises our concern is the fact that the alumni of the police college are of a minority elite group in our society.

With the incident as momentum, one is tempted to review the standing of the Korea National Police University. The academy was founded with the similar purposes with other academies, military, naval and air force, but the question lies in this. We remember that the ``Hana-hoi,`` the organized graduates of the Korea Military Academy, was disbanded. The purge of this particular military organization was made possible based on a popular consensus that such an elite group had privatized a certain organization and would damage unity of the Armed Forces and infringe on the military`s political neutrality.

What concerns people most is that the general will of the police organization has been swayed by the small group of homogeneous elites. And it is also skeptical that the police leadership has blindly supported the expressions of its collective will or taken advantage of it.

In order to dispel this sort of skepticism, the police academy alumni association ought to be more prudent. The association should bear in mind that the national police will be able to gain public confidence only when they carry out their proper missions silently without being influenced by politics.

Chung Cheol-Seung, student at the Judicial Research and training Institute