Trying to Prevent Accidents and Catch Criminals... 50 Police Officers Have Collapsed This Year

One Injury Every Three Days During Duty
32 Safety Accidents and 10 Assailant Attacks
8,719 Public Officials Injured in the Last 5 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Around 9:55 PM on March 11, in front of an apartment in Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, A (53), a police sergeant from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency's Narcotics Investigation Unit, who was dispatched to apprehend a drug suspect, blocked the path of suspect B (36) who was trying to flee by car. Surrounded by police officers, B drove the car forward, hitting Sergeant A before stopping. B was arrested by the police, but Sergeant A, who was pinned under the vehicle, sustained injuries to his head and legs and was transported to the hospital.

Earlier, around 1 PM on January 22 in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, habitual drug offender C (55), a police inspector, and D (40), a police officer, were injured by a knife wielded by the suspect in a hallucinatory state. Inspector C was stabbed in the calf, and Officer D suffered scratches on the neck and palm and was taken to the emergency room for treatment. The drug offender who attacked the officers was a habitual criminal with 25 prior convictions and had been released only 12 days earlier.

The number of police officers injured while performing official duties in the field is increasing. According to the National Police Agency on the 7th, 50 officers were injured in the line of duty from January to April this year, averaging one every three days. The causes of injury were mostly safety accidents (32), followed by assaults by suspects (10), traffic accidents (7), and illness (1). Expanding the scope to the past five years, a total of 8,719 officers were injured on duty. By year: 1,867 in 2016, 1,630 in 2017, 1,831 in 2018, 2,075 in 2019, and 1,266 last year. The decrease last year is attributed to reduced field dispatches due to the spread of COVID-19. Regionally, the highest numbers of injured officers were in Seoul (1,894) and Southern Gyeonggi (1,410), where policing demands are high.

Injuries from safety accidents outnumber those from assaults by suspects. Over five years, the causes of injury were safety accidents (4,044), assaults by suspects (2,503), traffic accidents (1,936), and illness (236). The issue of ensuring the safety of officers on field dispatch was highlighted in the case of the late Sergeant Lee Seong-rim, who died in December last year while directing traffic. The field police community ‘Polnetiang’ issued a statement saying, "The dangerous duty that pushes traffic police officers into life-threatening situations must be improved."

There are also calls for active use of police authority in assault situations. According to a report titled ‘A Case Study on the Effectiveness of Equipment Use Based on Police Physical Force Standards’ by the Police University’s Institute of Police Policy Research, most of the physical force used by police was handcuffs (95.8%). Electronic shock devices, commonly known as ‘Taser guns,’ accounted for 4.5%, and firearm use was only 0.3%. Since live fire incidents also included responses to wild boar appearances, cases where firearms were used to subdue suspects were extremely rare. A police official stated, "We will spare no effort in honoring and supporting fallen and injured officers," adding, "We will continuously inspect and improve working conditions and safety measures in the field."