My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 232

“Then let’s make it public.”

“But I don’t think the higher-ups will like it?”

Lee Ji-soo said worriedly. The truth was, even if they wanted to announce it, they couldn’t if the higher-ups told them not to.

“Ah, don’t worry. Even if the higher-ups are out of their minds, they can’t treat reporters badly.”

“Well, if you just slip the current situation to a reporter, they’ll immediately break it in the media.”

“That’s right.”

If he just hinted at it to that person, breaking the story would be nothing. The bereaved family must be suppressing what they want to reveal right now for the sake of cooperation.

“And it’s important to put pressure on the culprit and induce mistakes.”

“I guess someone like that is the type to turn away from reality when things get urgent, right?”

And the tools for that are none other than alcohol and gambling.

“You’re saying you’ll induce mistakes to catch him.”

“Yes, at least if that happens, we can seize the opportunity to track him down and identify him.”

“Good. I’ll quietly talk to the victim’s side about that.”

The higher-ups would be uncomfortable, but neither the team leader nor Park Do-joon cared about that.

***

The reporter, having finished the call with the team leader, didn’t hesitate any longer. He immediately called his colleagues, and the very next day, the incident was splashed across the newspapers and broadcast as a special news report.

-Underage rape murderer. Walking around freely.

-Concealed underage rape murder case. How far is the security of the Republic of Korea falling?

“What the hell is going on!”

The Ansan Police Station chief was furious. If the media reported on such an incident, his promotion would be as good as gone, so he tried to cover it up at all costs. But in the end, it had been exposed.

“We can’t stop the victim’s side from revealing it.”

“You should have stopped them by any means!”

“By what means? What means? Should we threaten them? The other party is a reporter?”

In reality, some police officers with poor ethics threaten victims to prevent incidents from being exposed. Sadly, that’s the reality.

But that’s only when dealing with powerless ordinary people. If they mess with a reporter, they could be the ones who end up dead.

“Damn it, damn it…! Son of a bitch!”

The police officers frowned as they watched the chief constantly cursing.

“Why is he being like that?”

“Promotion season is coming up soon. He’s out of the running this time, I guess.”

“He’s going crazy.”

“Hey, turn off that local broadcast!”

The violent crimes team leader shouted at the voices chattering from behind.

Of course, he agreed with them in his heart, but if they kept talking there and the chief heard them, it would cause an even bigger problem.

“Chief, calm down. Now that it’s happened, we need to catch the culprit quickly.”

“Hey! Go catch him right now! If he doesn’t exist, make him up and bring him in, you bastards!”

Only after the people around him half-heartedly calmed him down and half-heartedly dragged him away could the meeting proceed, and the violent crimes team leader sighed deeply and said.

“You bastards, are you that clueless? No, you need to shut your mouths. Who knows what that mad dog will do, so why are you running your mouths like that?”

“…….”

“Of course, I know you’re annoyed. But there’s a situation, you know!”

The higher-ups only cared about the prestige of the police, so the people below were having a hard time.

They were continuing to track down the culprit by any means possible, but unfortunately, they couldn’t find any traces of that day.

“Do the profilers have anything to report?”

They called the profilers with a glimmer of hope. But they weren’t giving them a clear answer. Of course, a rough identification of the culprit had been made. He’s likely in his 40s or 50s, aggressive, and socially isolated. He probably doesn’t have a proper job and is a long-time resident who knows this area well… that was about it.

But the team leader knew better than anyone how many people like that there were in Ansan.

“Team leader, I’m sorry, but we provide information to track down the culprit, not spoon-feed you.”

One of the profilers grumbled at the team leader’s words.

“What about a location… can’t you get anything?”

“It’s ambiguous. It’s around the crime scene, but…”

‘Stop stating the obvious.’

Of course, profilers aren’t gods who know everything. But searching for everyone located around the area is close to impossible.

“Well, it’s not like there’s no way.”

At that moment, the leader of the profiler team subtly interjected.

“Senior?”

“The guy under me suggested an interesting theory.”

“An interesting theory?”

“Yeah, an opportunistic sex offender. It’s definitely a possibility.”

As he explained what an opportunistic sex offender is and what type they are, everyone’s faces gradually changed.

“So… you’re saying he’ll pounce on anyone who passes by with great excitement?”

“That’s right, exactly. In that process, sexual preferences or age don’t matter. This isn’t just a sexual issue.”

A kind of struggle to appeal to his power through the criminal act of rape, which lowers his self-esteem as much as possible, and to rebuild his self-esteem once again.

“And we’ve found a suspicious guy.”

“A suspicious guy?”

“Yeah.”

“No, but why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s just suspicion. We can’t get any evidence with that.”

“…Damn it.”

Search warrants or arrest warrants, or even requests for detention, have clear limitations based on suspicion alone.

Moreover, if he has seven prior convictions, he knows as much about the arrest process as any police officer, so the moment the police approach him, he’ll probably immediately ask for a lawyer and make a fuss.

“But now that things have come to this, let’s try to involve him.”

“What do you mean by involve him? This could cause a problem if we mess up.”

The news has already been released to the media. If they force a culprit and present him, then everything will really be turned upside down.

The chief was pissed off and told them to make someone up and bring him in, but if they really made up a culprit in this kind of case and presented him, the National Police Agency would be split in half.

“I know, so let’s subtly dig a trap.”

“A trap?”

“Yeah, a trap that’s good enough to work. And then we can calmly involve him after that.”

At those words, everyone’s eyes sparkled.

***

“Senior.”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you bother to reveal it?”

Lee Ji-soo, who was looking down from the rooftop of a shabby villa, watching for the right timing, asked as if she suddenly remembered.

“Actually, isn’t it possible even if we don’t reveal it?”

“Huh? Oh, revealing it to the media?”

“Yes.”

“Well, to be honest, that kind of operation is virtually impossible without it.”

“Yes? Why?”

“The police officers being deployed are female police officers. The higher-ups don’t give permission easily in this case.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah, because it’s dangerous.”

Park Do-joon’s plan was simple. The other party is an opportunistic sex offender. In other words, he’ll commit a crime again if he gets the chance.

If they arrest him as a flagrant offender [caught in the act], they can conduct all investigations on him.

“The problem is that in that case, the police officers being deployed become dangerous. The higher-ups hate that terribly.”

‘It’s funny.’

It’s unfortunate and unavoidable when a male police officer dies in the line of duty while chasing a robber, but deploying a female police officer in a sting operation is absolutely impossible, according to the higher-ups.

As a result, only male police officers are deployed in actually dangerous operations, and female police officers are mostly in comfortable and safe positions.

“But to deploy a female police officer in an operation where she might be raped? That would cause a huge uproar.”

No matter how much they’re being monitored.

“Moreover, as you can see in this case, the combat training of female police officers is a bit… you know?”

“Hahaha…”

Lee Ji-soo laughed awkwardly at those words. Because she’s a female police officer herself, she knows.

“I do know.”

Suppression training to deal with criminals? From the start, that’s impossible. That’s the current limitation of female police officers in Korea. Instead of police work, they’re treated like precious flowers in the office and used for public relations, which is the reality for most female police officers.

In fact, in one region, when sending a patrol team that included a female police officer, they ordered an additional team composed of men to be deployed for safety, because it was dangerous, and they were torn to shreds [heavily criticized].

It was tantamount to admitting that one team composed of men was enough, but if a female police officer was included, another male patrol team was needed to protect her.

Even though there was a shortage of personnel, they were ordered to prioritize these officers for female police officer protection, and as a result, even if a situation urgently required the public, the dispatch would inevitably be delayed.

Naturally, the public was outraged, saying that if that was the case, they shouldn’t send out women at all, and in the end, that plan was scrapped.

That’s how much the Korean police prioritize the protection of female police officers to the point of making such absurd plans.

Even Lee Ji-soo had obtained certifications, but it was safe to say that she wasn’t confident in combat.

“So, we inevitably have to bring in personnel from the outside. The places where there are female police officers who can be deployed in this kind of work are obvious.”

No matter how much they train, it’s never easy for a woman to beat a man because the difference in strength is so great. Moreover, Hwang In-chul has a history of violence.

Naturally, he’s not afraid to use his hands on people. In that case, female police officers really need to be skilled in combat to protect themselves.

They can never protect themselves with the skill of awkwardly wielding a baton.

“But the police higher-ups won’t use outside personnel unless they’re in danger themselves.”

Women who have the combat ability to subdue men on their own usually prefer bodyguards over police officers. This is because there are many women who are afraid of harm, so the number of female bodyguards is woefully inadequate.

From a woman’s point of view, it’s only natural that a female bodyguard is much more comfortable than a male bodyguard.

Moreover, female bodyguards can go to spaces that men can’t go to, such as women’s baths or women’s restrooms, which are extremely private spaces, making them much safer.

The same goes for this case. For safety, they need to receive support from outside personnel or a special team composed of female police officers, but if they had just brought this plan, the documents would have been thrown back with the words ‘son of a bitch’.

“But the news is out, and they’re starting to sweat bullets [become very nervous].”

So, naturally, they started struggling to solve the case by any means possible, and when they saw a way, they jumped at it.

“Protecting female police officers… what a funny thing to say.”

“Well, in the current situation, it would be more accurate to say that they need to protect the police rather than female police officers. It’s a funny thing to say.”

They hire police officers to protect the public, but Park Do-joon could only sigh at the bizarre reality of having to give up protecting the public in order to protect those police officers.

“There was a big fuss last time, too, right?”

“Ah, that incident? I was ashamed that we were the same police officers. I’m not that bad.”

There was an incident at a certain security center, that is, a police box [small local police station], where a criminal armed with a weapon was causing a disturbance while drunk, and the police officer working there urgently reported it to 112 [Korean emergency number, like 911].

From the start, they should have been dispatched when someone reported to 112, but they called 112 themselves and screamed.

At least if they thought it was dangerous, they should have armed themselves and used a stun gun to subdue him. There was also a way to request support through internal radio.

Moreover, there was only one criminal, and there were six police officers. But they called 112 and screamed for help, and when that became a problem, they made excuses that police officers were only human and couldn’t help it.