My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 452

“And from the perspective of corrupt police officers in Mokpo, they need to stop our progress to make you leave quickly.”

If they determine there are no slaves being caught, the Mokpo Police Station will request the dissolution of the special investigation unit to their superiors. Moreover, if there are no further results, those above will think the case is somewhat resolved and dissolve the special investigation unit.

“And from then on, they’ll start capturing slaves again and exploit them.”

‘This isn’t the first time this has happened.’

This has been repeating for decades.

“You’re saying we’re cracking down on the wrong targets?”

Yoo Gi-tae looked somewhat perplexed. He hadn’t considered that.

“Hmm, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to help you out once. It’ll divert their attention anyway.”

Park Do-joon grinned and said,

“Do you have any places with warrants?”

“Yes, we have one place. We’re planning a raid tomorrow.”

“Then let’s go together. Seeing is believing.”

No matter how much Park Do-joon explains here, it’ll be faster for the police to see and judge for themselves.

“Now that we have a warrant, I’ll tell you what to look for, hehehe.”

The next day, Park Do-joon took a boat to the place where the search warrant was issued. As they arrived, they saw men coming out with annoyed faces.

“Ah, why are you here again?”

“That’s right. It hasn’t even been two months since you searched the place last time, has it?”

“You’re really bothering people. You saw there was nothing here last time.”

Park Do-joon chuckled as he watched the workers complaining as the police got off the boat.

“Just as I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re already out here, even though we didn’t tell them we were coming.”

“Ah…….”

In other words, someone had already leaked the information. If not, there’s no reason for them to be out here.

“It’s not like the boat we took is a regular liner.”

In the first place, regular liners can’t travel to these small islands. So usually, you have to call and request a boat or have your own boat.

“Hmm.”

Park Do-joon glanced around, ignoring the salt farm owners’ fuss. Then he looked at them and said,

“So, are you dissatisfied?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if you’re dissatisfied.”

“Hey, you little punk. Do you want to get a complaint filed against you?”

“Go ahead and try.”

“This little…!”

“I might hit you if you keep it up.”

The men were provoked by Park Do-joon and tried to step forward. But when Park Do-joon actually stepped forward, they backed away instead.

“We’re not here to ask for cooperation. We’re here to execute a warrant.”

“Damn it, you came two months ago and didn’t find anything.”

“So, are you going to obstruct us? If you do, we can arrest you on the spot for obstructing the execution of official duties.”

When Park Do-joon took out the handcuffs from his back pocket, they all slowly backed away. Then, a man who seemed to be the owner behind them shouted.

“Hey, you bastards! What are you doing! Stop them!”

“Stop them? Did you just say to stop them? You know that’s obstructing the execution of official duties, right?”

“……”

As soon as those words came out, the owner shut his mouth. He glanced around and then casually turned his gaze in the opposite direction, pretending not to know anything.

“Let’s go.”

Park Do-joon chuckled at that and put the handcuffs back in his back pocket.

The police officer was dumbfounded at the sight. Because usually, in these small ports, it takes an hour or two just to get inside, with all the bickering.

“How did you do that? They don’t seem like the type to back down so easily.”

“I notified them that it was obstruction of official duties.”

“No, but…….”

It’s not like they don’t do that either. But they still blocked them. So, they had no choice but to drag out the time and suffer all day.

“Ah, it’s simple. You just need to specify the owner as the target for arrest.”

“The owner?”

“Isn’t it obvious? What kind of loyalty would people working at a salt farm have to go to jail for someone else?”

Of course, there’s none. Nevertheless, the reason they block the police is obviously because they’re ordered to do so from above.

“The reason I provoked them wasn’t just to warn them.”

It was to elicit a reaction from the salt farm owner.

“Did you see how their gazes turned to the salt farm owner when I approached them?”

“Yes.”

“Then that means the salt farm owner has the decision-making power.”

“That’s right.”

“But what happens if the salt farm owner doesn’t say anything there?”

“Everyone will back off. As expected, you’re a senior!”

Lee Ji-soo immediately understood what Park Do-joon was saying. However, Yoo Gi-tae still didn’t understand.

“What do you mean by that?”

“When the person in charge or the decision-maker is present, if they refuse to make a decision, no one tries to make a decision, given the characteristics of Koreans. Especially men.”

Because most Korean men learn that structure in the military.

What if the decision-maker is present and you make a decision yourself?

“Then you’re almost 100% responsible for it later.”

It’s a kind of passive resistance. So, they naturally have no choice but to turn their attention to the decision-maker.

“And the reason I took out the handcuffs is because the decision-maker made a decision.”

The salt farm owner told them to stop. And the moment he said that, obstruction of official duties was established.

“We’re not here to ask for cooperation. We’re here to execute a search warrant to find evidence.”

Logically, the fact that a warrant has been issued means that the police have been granted coercive power.

“But it doesn’t make sense to be granted coercive power and then ask the suspects for cooperation.”

And from the point when Park Do-joon tries to arrest them, the salt farm owner has no choice but to back down.

“Saying ‘I’m not telling you to move, I’m arresting you’ is the most sure way to subdue the other party.”

“Yes, that’s right. Human psychology is quite vulnerable to specificity.”

In fact, humans tend to avoid demanding or assigning responsibility with specificity, and the surroundings turn into bystanders.

“For example, it’s said that if someone collapses on the street and you ask for help from the people around, no one will help.”

Because they don’t want to take responsibility. And because they don’t want to get involved.

“But if you specify someone, they’ll step up.”

If you directly specify, ‘The person wearing the yellow shirt, please help!’ or ‘The person wearing the blue jacket, please call 119 [Korean emergency services number]!’, they will do it.

“Humans mostly reject indiscriminate requests for help or assignment of responsibility for ambiguous problems.”

“But what about earlier……?”

“I transferred the responsibility to the owner.”

Park Do-joon took out the handcuffs. That was a clear expression of his intention to arrest someone.

In that situation, people have to ask someone for the decision.

“And since we’re watching and they told them to stop, it’s clearly obstruction of official duties.”

“Huh!”

“When executing a warrant, trying to break through is a stupid thing to do.”

If you try to break through in a situation where a large number of people are struggling to stop you, it will result in confusion and chaos.

“Instead, if you say you’re only going to take down the person in charge, the other party will have no choice but to be intimidated.”

If you arrest the person in charge and they still block you? Then you can arrest the second person in charge again for obstructing the execution of official duties.

“For example, when you break into a large corporation’s building, the security guards block you, right?”

In fact, there are many cases where you can’t even get inside the building even if you have a court’s search warrant or arrest warrant.

“But usually, when that happens, there’s someone who has the decision-making power.”

Of course, the chairman will make the decision himself. But there is definitely a commander on the scene.

“If you arrest him, the organization will rapidly collapse. There’s a reason why they target middle-ranking officers first on the battlefield.”

Even ordinary people collapse when you take out the middle, but criminals are even more likely to have weak solidarity.

“Unless it’s a special case, most criminals will tuck their tails in and run away here. Because they don’t want to take responsibility.”

“Special case?”

“This method doesn’t work if the target is a group with strong social power or if they’re bound by a kind of community.”

But these people are suspected of being criminals. And most criminals don’t have faith or loyalty to each other, so they try to pass on the responsibility.

“The method of executing a warrant differs depending on the group.”

“That’s right. In fact, most groups refuse to execute a warrant.”

Accordingly, the police must know other response methods to easily execute the warrant.

“Hmm.”

While Yoo Gi-tae was pondering, they were able to arrive at the salt farm. Of course, that wasn’t easy either. Because no one would give them a ride, they had no choice but to walk all the way.

“It’s tough.”

Even if it’s a small island, it’s not easy to walk to the other side.

“They’re really too much.”

It’s not just the salt farm owners who live on this island. Of course, other people have vehicles that can be used on the island, or even agricultural tillers. But no one gives them a ride.

“There’s nothing we can do. Running a salt farm means you’re a considerable figure in the area. Besides, they obviously know that people are being used as slaves, so wouldn’t there be violence involved?”

They could give them a ride, but would the police protect them if that happened? That would be impossible.

“Then they’d have no choice but to abandon all their assets and escape the island.”

So, most people living on the island have no choice but to pretend they don’t know and shut their mouths.

“The best way is to find the people who are being held as slaves and punish those involved. Well, that’s not easy either.”

What’s the point of the police catching the criminals when the court recognizes the use of slaves as a local custom?

In fact, the court even boldly states in the judgment regarding slave cases, ‘It is a local custom, so it cannot be severely punished.’ So, proper punishment is out of the question, and rescuing the people who are being held as slaves may be the best option.

“But we don’t even know if they really exist or not, do we?”

“That’s the problem.”

Of course, not all salt farms use slaves. In fact, there are more salt farms that don’t use slaves than those that do. But the problem is that they all know about it but keep their mouths shut.

“So, we have to find out.”

As they entered the salt farm, they saw a wide salt field. And before they knew it, the salt farm’s workers and owner, who had come in their car, were glaring at them annoyingly.

“See, there’s no one here.”

“Let’s go anyway.”

Park Do-joon didn’t care about their words anyway. Instead, he headed to what appeared to be the lodging.

“The door is installed upside down?”

“Ah, that? It was a mistake when we installed the door. Well, it doesn’t matter since we don’t have to lock it from the outside anyway.”

At those words, Park Do-joon looked at Yoo Gi-tae. Yoo Gi-tae, who had already been there, smiled bitterly as if he knew.