My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 372

“Well, about those illegally sold videotapes…”

“That’s right. There were a lot of places like that in Yongsan [a district in Seoul known for its electronics market and, historically, some shady dealings].”

So, scams were rampant.

There was even a joke about buying a video and ending up with ‘Rural Diary’ [a long-running, wholesome Korean drama series, implying a bait-and-switch].

“Why would they scam people like that?”

“Because they don’t want to get caught by the police.”

If caught, they’d be punished for distributing obscene materials, but slipping in ‘Rural Diary’ made it harder to prosecute. But would the victims, embarrassed by what they were trying to buy, actually report it? Of course not.

In fact, scammers who prey on criminals have been around for ages.

“It’s the same here. What’s the punishment for selling fake snuff films if they get caught?”

“Exactly. At most, it’s distribution of obscene materials.”

Distribution of obscene materials refers to distributing such content offline. It’s a law meant to punish offline distribution back when there was no online distribution.

“Isn’t the punishment for that really light?”

“I don’t even think they punish it anymore.”

A law that exists legally but isn’t enforced is called a dead letter, and this crime of distributing obscene materials is practically one. No one in their right mind would share porn offline these days. There’s so much of it online.

As a result, these days, they don’t investigate, don’t punish, and don’t indict.

“But with that, you can figure out people’s tastes.”

“Yes, they provide videos for people with… specific interests.”

If you can access the dark web, finding this stuff isn’t hard. So, once you get close to someone, you subtly hint that something like this exists, and by seeing what they choose, you can confirm their… preferences.

“Plus, the other person can’t report it.”

“That’s right.”

Report it? That’s like confessing you’re a pervert.

“But still, this is getting too complicated.”

There are often cases like this – so difficult to penetrate that tracking is almost impossible.

“Besides, there are too many adult entertainment establishments around.”

“Focus on the school.”

“What are you talking about again?”

Park Do-joon stated it like it was obvious.

“The police don’t know about its existence. But the police we suspect *do* know about its existence and are supplying criminals.”

“That’s true, but… huh? Wait, does that mean…?”

Kim Si-deok’s face twisted in realization.

“Is that police officer a pervert?”

“There’s a strong possibility.”

Otherwise, there’s no way this connection could exist.

“A sadomasochistic pervert?”

“A sense of justice and such perversion aren’t mutually exclusive, are they?”

To be precise, that perversion doesn’t discriminate between men and women. There are two men in the video right away. Most male customers wouldn’t enjoy seeing another man being tortured, so they should be seen as sacrifices for female perverts.

“Moreover, a sense of justice – especially a *twisted* sense of justice – starts with indiscriminate attacks on the other party.”

Normal justice starts with fairness. Treating someone fairly, even if they’re someone I know or someone in power, is the foundation of justice.

That’s why Park Do-joon put a stop to his brother when he went astray before the regression by taking the blame himself.

“But it’s not a twisted sense of justice. The standard of justice isn’t law or order, but personal feelings.”

A twisted sense of justice considers anything different from one’s own feelings as evil.

It’s a common sight on the modern internet.

“And the common thread in such twisted justice is the impersonal treatment of the other party.”

“Impersonal treatment?”

“Yes. Why does the law prevent personal retaliation?”

“I see. That’s true.”

Kim Si-deok nodded, understanding. People often complain about the prohibition of personal retaliation, or private sanctions. This is because proper punishment isn’t being carried out because Korean law is too lenient.

Of course, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean we can allow private sanctions. Because private sanctions are extreme, and impersonal punishment of the other party is bound to occur.

If private sanctions were allowed, theft would be punishable by death, insult would be punishable by death, and assault would be punishable by death.

Knowing that, countries with established legal systems never recognize private sanctions.

“Private sanctions certainly involve extreme degradation of the target who is thought to be the perpetrator.”

Lee Ji-soo also nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. And in this case, you can see that the police officer has identified someone as the target of private sanctions. In a situation where the sense of justice is twisted, it’s easy to package personal revenge as justice.”

“I understand up to that point, but why is that connected to the school?”

“The youngest victim in the video is completely out of place.”

Only sixteen years old. A variable that is definitely different from the other victims.

This peculiarity is likely due to a personal grudge.

Otherwise, it’s psychologically unlikely that a sixteen-year-old minor would be among the other victims.

“But what does that have to do with the school?”

Kim Si-deok still didn’t understand and asked, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. Park Do-joon answered him more directly.

“The victim, I mean. The first victim we found.”

The victim who died earliest. The victim was a young student. According to the investigation, she was 16 years old. She had a history of school violence, fraud, and running away from home.

“A normal police officer can’t access that information.”

“That’s true.”

A minor’s criminal record is not something a general police officer can see just because they want to. It’s legally protected.

“Then there are two possibilities.”

The first possibility is that the female police officer is in the juvenile division.

But even if she’s in the juvenile division, there’s no way to check a minor’s records without a resident registration number [a unique identification number assigned to every Korean citizen].

Of course, minors *do* have resident registration numbers. However, since it’s a high-security item, it doesn’t come up just by searching the criminal record.

Of course, the police have records of criminals residing in the area for the purpose of managing criminals, but that’s based on adults.

Minors aren’t even included in those records.

“It’s hard to see it as a sexual fixation on minors.”

First of all, the other victims after that are all adults. Only that child is a minor. In that case, it can’t be seen as a sexual fixation on minors.

Profiling is virtually statistics, and one out of six isn’t a variable, but fixed information.

“Then the second possibility…”

“You knew from the beginning?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Park Do-joon nodded at Lee Ji-soo’s words.

“If you know about a minor, you can identify them.”

And he may have marked the victim. Moreover, looking at the child’s criminal record, it’s hard to see her as a child with a bright future. Even though she was sixteen years old, she committed all sorts of crimes.

In fact, at the time of her disappearance, she had a precedent of receiving Disposition No. 9 from the court [a type of juvenile court sanction]. Disposition No. 9 means sending her to a short-term reformatory for less than 6 months, and considering the standards of the Korean court, which tries not to punish juvenile offenders, she was a serious offender.

Above that, there’s only Disposition No. 10 – sending her to a reformatory for up to 2 years.

“They knew each other?”

“Rather than knowing each other, he probably knew her unilaterally. Maybe the victim probably didn’t care about the policewoman at all.”

That means there’s a high possibility that the policewoman is nearby.

“And the fact that the child is an early victim of the case is also meaningful.”

In fact, looking at the timeline, it’s safe to say she’s almost the first victim. Maybe she’s in the top three at the latest.

“Meaningful?”

“Even if you shout for justice, you can’t hide your feelings. To be exact, you’re shouting that your feelings *are* justice.”

The common thread among people who shout for modern justice is that they’re shouting for twisted justice. It’s not real justice; it’s *their* justice.

Then what if you have the power to enforce that justice?

“Won’t you use it personally?”

The North Korean army that came down during the Korean War gave armbands to local tenant farmers and gave them the power to take revenge. They would kill anyone if they said a word.

And at that time, they didn’t kill the bad landlords who were harassing the real tenant farmers, but killed those who didn’t like them and those who didn’t look after their convenience in the name of the bourgeoisie.

How could that dirty act remain to this day under the name of ‘armband act’?

“Let’s search the school. Then something will come out.”

# Spatial Criminology

When profiling, we judge using numerous variables. And one of the things with the highest weight is the characteristics of a space – the terrain.

“Criminals commit crimes around where they live.”

“That’s right. And they don’t try to commit crimes in their own immediate area.”

There are many crimes, such as arson, murder, robbery, and rape, but these crimes are committed within a certain radius around the perpetrator.

For this reason, terrain is a very important factor in identifying criminals.

“Online crime took a long time to systematize because it was so dispersed.”

If the perpetrator was really identified only online, Park Do-joon wouldn’t have been able to narrow down the area. But by including one offline crime, the crime can be identified within it.

“But still, there are too many variables?”

Lee Ji-soo shook her head as if she had a headache. The victim’s school was Hwayeong High School, and there were more than 40 adult entertainment establishments around it.

It was inevitable due to the characteristics of a high school in an entertainment district.

“It’s not a good thing that the school is near the entertainment district.”

To be exact, the school was there first, and then the downtown area developed, and the entertainment district was created around it. Of course, even if it’s close, it’s not within the distance set by law, but the problem is that you can go to the entertainment district just by walking a little.

“The terrain is also terrible.”

“Why is that?”

“Structurally, children have no choice but to pass through the entertainment district.”

“Why is it like this?”

“It’s a matter of location and time.”

The terrain is also terrible because the fastest route from the apartment complex where students are most likely to live to the school is through the entertainment district.

To be exact, the closest to the school is the entertainment district, then the academy district [hagwon district, areas with many private tutoring centers], and then the apartment complex.

“The school was built first. After that, the surrounding downtown area developed, and the entertainment district was created, and then the area that was far away was redeveloped, and apartments were built. But you can’t build an academy in the entertainment district, so you probably built the academy in the next closest location.”

As a result, students had no choice but to pass through the entertainment district with a high probability, whether they were going to the academy or going home.

If you try to go around, you have to go around for at least 40 minutes, so of course, from the children’s point of view, they have no choice but to cross the entertainment district.

“Is that why the saying ‘Mengmu’s three moves’ [a Chinese idiom about moving house three times to find the best environment for raising children] came about?”

From Hwayeong High School’s point of view, the entertainment district right next to it has a significant negative impact on academic performance.