"Missing children information, mandatory provision" Police revise rules related to missing children
Measures to be taken in accordance with the revision of the Missing Children Act in September
[Seoul = News Fim] Reporter Park Woo-jin = Starting in September, when the police request personal information from relevant organizations during the search for missing children, the relevant organizations will be required to provide the information. The police have begun revising detailed regulations in accordance with this change in the system.
According to the police on the 18th, the National Police Commission held a meeting the day before and decided on three related regulations, including the 'Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, etc.'
This rule revision appears to be a measure taken in response to the revised Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children (Missing Children Act) going into effect on September 27.
The revised bill allows police chiefs to request without a warrant information from relevant agencies that hold information necessary for finding missing children, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV), credit and transportation card usage history, and medical treatment dates and locations. It also stipulates that the relevant agencies must provide the information immediately upon request to the police.
The revised rules provide specific details on how police chiefs will request information related to missing children and the procedures for doing so, as well as how to communicate that information to guardians.
It was decided that the police chief should check the request ledger and the destruction ledger regarding the information provided at least once a year. This is a measure to strengthen personal information protection in accordance with the provision in the revised bill that requires information to be destroyed without delay when the purpose, such as searching for missing children, is achieved.
Police believe that the revision of the Missing Children Act and related regulations will help find missing children by shortening the time and procedures for searching and investigating missing children in the future.
Currently, in order to receive information related to missing children, you have to request it from the relevant agency, but it is up to the agency to choose. If the agency does not provide it, you have to apply for a warrant to receive it.
A police official said, "The rules have been revised to specifically stipulate detailed procedures when requesting information or making notifications in accordance with the revised law," adding, "We believe that this will be helpful in finding missing children as it will shorten the time and procedures by specifying that information, which previously played a critical role in the search for missing children, should be provided at the agency's discretion."