[Exclusive] 'One Officer in Charge of 13 Schools'... School Police Understaffed for 5 Years

1022 School Police Officers Assigned, 961 Actually Deployed
Police Handle 'Education Ministry Support Tasks'... Jeong Woo-taek "Need to Greatly Increase Personnel"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The School Police Officer (SPO) system, introduced to prevent school violence, has been operating below capacity for the past five years. As police manpower shortages persist, concerns are rising that responding to school violence is becoming increasingly difficult.

'SPO' Operated Below Capacity for 5 Consecutive Years; One Officer Responsible for 13 Schools

According to the 'School Police Officer Status' report received by National Assembly Vice Speaker Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, from the National Police Agency on the 13th, the SPO quota this year was recorded at 1,022, marking a decrease for five consecutive years. The SPO quota, which had been maintained in the 1,100 range from 2019 to 2021, dropped to the low 1,000s last year.

Among them, the actual number deployed was 961, which is 9 fewer than a year ago and 117 fewer than in 2018, five years ago. From 2019 to 2021, about 1,000 SPOs were assigned to schools nationwide, but with the normalization of in-person classes last year, the number decreased further to 970.

The number of schools assigned to one SPO has also increased. This year, one SPO is responsible for an average of 12.9 schools. This number has been rising annually: 10.8 schools in 2018, 11.1 in 2019, 11.3 in 2020, 11.4 in 2021, and 12.7 last year.

A SPO in the Seoul area said, "Although the number varies by police station, usually there are 2 to 10 SPOs assigned. It is common for one person to be responsible for at least 10 schools," expressing the difficulties faced.

School Violence Increasing While Police Remain Passive

The SPO system was introduced in 2012 under the School Violence Prevention Act to exclusively handle preventing school violence and protecting students. However, the number of officers has been decreasing without filling the quota. Despite the increase in school violence due to the rise in in-person classes recently, the actual number of deployed officers has decreased, leading to criticism that the system is not operating in line with reality.

The number of perpetrators apprehended by the police for school violence was 13,584 in 2019, 11,331 in 2020, and 11,968 in 2021, but it slightly increased to 14,432 last year. This is even higher than the pre-COVID-19 level in 2018 (13,367). Since these figures are recorded in the Criminal Justice Information System, the actual number of school violence incidents is expected to be even higher.

Over the past five years, school violence has been found to occur most frequently in special schools and schools for students with disabilities. Among last year's school violence perpetrators (14,432), 35.5% were classified as 'others.' Following that, middle schools (4,474), high schools (3,429), and elementary schools (1,407) had the highest numbers.

A police official explained, "Youth under 18 who are not attending school but experience school violence are included in the 'others' category," adding, "School violence occurred most frequently in special schools and other types of schools."

Within the police force, there is also a perception that 'school violence' is largely a matter supporting the Ministry of Education's responsibilities.

A female youth division chief at a Seoul police station stated, "Since school violence cases are mainly mediated and resolved by the School Violence Countermeasure Deliberation Committee of the Education Support Office, it is difficult for SPOs to intervene actively in cases." Another SPO said, "Besides school violence, there are many sensitive issues recently such as dating violence and stalking, so other cases sometimes take priority."

National Police Agency Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun has also clearly stated that school violence matters are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. At a regular press briefing on the 6th, Commissioner Yoon said, "The Ministry of Education is leading various countermeasures," and added, "The police also play an important role related to school violence, so we are creating alternatives to be reflected in the Ministry of Education's measures."

Vice Speaker Jeong emphasized, "School violence, which had slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has sharply increased since last year, making the problem serious," and stressed, "The National Police Agency needs to promptly prepare measures to significantly expand the number of SPOs nationwide."