Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency Responds to 'Police Officer Work Overload' Criticism: "Personnel Adjustment Is Not Easy"

Despite Police Deaths, Cases Per Investigator Increase
Structural Problems Neglected, Only Stopgap Measures Taken

Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency, Lee Ho-young, stated on the 31st that despite the announcement of measures to improve field working conditions last year, the number of cases held per investigator has rather increased. He explained, “Adjusting personnel is not easy,” adding, “It usually takes 5 to 6 months.”

Lee Ho-young, Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency. National Police Agency

At a regular press briefing that day, Acting Commissioner Lee said, “We have almost completed the (personnel) adjustments and analysis,” and added, “As you know, many situations overlapped.”

He further stated, “Looking at individuals, some people have more cases, while others have fewer. It is regrettable that the workload has not been alleviated for each person,” and promised, “We will strive to reduce the overall burden.”

According to the ‘Number of Cases Held per Investigator Nationwide’ submitted to the National Police Agency by Mo Kyung-jong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the average number increased from 28.5 cases in June last year to 29.4 cases in December. During the same period, Seoul saw an increase from 33.2 to 33.9 cases. Investigators at frontline police stations are still burdened with as many as 40 to 50 cases or as few as 20 to 30 cases assigned to them, suffering from excessive workloads.

The main causes include the transfer of investigative authority for all crimes except six major crimes?corruption, economic crimes, public officials, elections, defense industry, and large-scale disasters?to the police following the 2021 adjustment of investigative rights between the prosecution and police. Additionally, the revision of investigation guidelines in November 2023, which prohibits rejecting complaints and accusations, is cited. While the number of investigation cases increased, there was no reinforcement of field personnel, which has been criticized.

As of December last year, the total number of cases held by Seoul police stations was 84,763, with 32.4% concentrated in five police stations. These included Gangnam Police Station with 7,654 cases, Songpa Police Station with 5,618 cases, Gwanak Police Station with 4,791 cases, Seocho Police Station with 4,747 cases, and Mapo Police Station with 4,702 cases. The concentration of cases increased compared to six months earlier (32.2%), and there was no change in the ranking of the top police stations. This figure is the sum of all investigative departments, including investigation, criminal, women and youth, and traffic divisions.

Mo Kyung-jong, Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, a 30-year-old Sergeant A, who worked in the investigation department of Seoul Gwanak Police Station, took his own life in July last year. Sergeant A sent messages to colleagues such as “There are 73 cases. I’m going to die like this,” “I feel like I’m going to die. I can’t see a way out,” and “Cases just keep piling up.” At that time, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency notified police stations with many long-term cases exceeding one year to conduct on-site inspections, and Sergeant A expressed pressure, saying, “I hope that day doesn’t come.” Before his death, Sergeant A had also applied for a department transfer due to work-related stress. In the same month, Sergeant B in his 20s from the Security Division of Yesan Police Station in Chungnam also took extreme measures, and Lieutenant C in his 40s, who was in charge of investigation work at Seoul Hyehwa Police Station, jumped into the Han River but was rescued. Both reportedly complained of stress related to their work.

The National Police Agency declared immediately after the deaths that it would reduce the workload in the field, but no changes occurred. In July last year, Deputy Commissioner Lee Ho-young formed the ‘Field Working Conditions Diagnosis Team’ and prepared countermeasures. The integrated investigation teams at police stations decided to streamline work by merging similar cases from the reception stage before case assignment. They also announced plans to analyze various security indicators and workloads by metropolitan/provincial police agencies and police stations to prepare and reflect personnel reallocation plans. Furthermore, they promised to enhance mental health diagnosis and management for police officers by expanding the Mind Companion Center and increasing counselors.

However, it appears that most of the core measures to improve personnel management have been postponed. Of the four plans originally scheduled for completion within the year, three have not been implemented. These include personnel reallocation between metropolitan/provincial police agencies, adjustment of investigative personnel functions between agencies, and reallocation of personnel based on appropriate staffing calculations for regional agencies. A National Police Agency official said, “We are preparing a personnel reallocation plan based on workload diagnosis by agency and function,” adding, “After a grace period of more than six months, we plan to adjust staffing starting with the regular personnel appointments in the first half of next year.”

The introduction of special care for high-risk groups for mental health and the enhancement of designated counseling, which were immediate tasks, have seen no progress for seven months. The National Police Agency announced that it plans to sequentially conduct ‘visiting counseling and on-site counseling’ for individuals with a history of suicide attempts, those showing crisis signs, and workers in heavy-duty departments such as investigation, women and youth, and civil affairs offices during the first half of this year.

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