[2020 National Audit] Nationwide Local Police Arrest Rates Decline for 3rd Year... Seoul and Sejong in the 70% Range

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Concerns have been raised that the arrest rates of provincial police agencies nationwide are declining every year. Sejong Police Agency and Seoul Police Agency were the only provincial agencies to show arrest rates in the 70% range.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee member Oh Young-hoon of the Democratic Party on the 15th, the average arrest rate of provincial agencies nationwide has been on a downward trend, falling from 85% in 2017 to 84% in 2018 and 83.3% in 2019.

As of last year, the provincial agency with the highest arrest rate nationwide was Gwangju Police Agency (89.3%), followed by Jeonbuk Police Agency (89.1%), Jeonnam Police Agency (87.5%), and Gangwon Police Agency (87.4%). It was also found that the arrest rates of Gwangju and Gangwon Police Agencies increased compared to 2017.

Conversely, Sejong Police Agency (71.3%) and Seoul Police Agency (76.1%), which opened in June last year, recorded the only arrest rates above 70% among provincial agencies. Oh explained that the arrest rate of provincial agencies does not have a significant correlation with the number of cases or the number of cases handled per police officer.

Oh pointed out, "If 100 cases occur, it means that 16 to 17 cases do not result in the perpetrator being caught, which inevitably causes law-abiding citizens to live in anxiety."

Oh emphasized, "Although it is difficult to simply compare arrest rates integrally because of the recent increase in intelligent crimes that are hard to track and arrest, and because arrest rates vary by crime type, the National Police Agency should establish and implement its own measures to improve arrest rates as a single indicator to create a Korea where citizens can live with peace of mind."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.