POLICING DISASTERS

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which underpins UK emergency (disaster) management, has established a consistent level of civil protection across the UK. Based on Integrated Emergency Management (IEM), UK emergency management is integrated both within and between responding organisations such as the police, the fire brigade, ambulance service, and local authorities. In contrast, the police response at a disaster scene in Republic of Korea is limited. Their roles tend to be confined to cordoning, managing traffic, and criminal investigation isolated from the wider context of disaster management. Although the above roles are key factors of policing, it is the lack of partnership working that is most apparent here. With this in mind, this paper aims to make some practical suggestions for the future of the Korean emergency management (also the role of the police at disaster scenes), based on lessons learned in the UK and their response to disaster management.