Police Average Case Processing Time 61.4 Days... Reduced by 12 Days Compared to Two Years Ago

Frontline Police Stations Average 59.4 Days... First Time in the 50-Day Range
Long-Term Case Retention Rate Also Decreased by 7.6% Last Year

The average case processing period by the police has decreased for two consecutive years, marking the lowest figure since the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act.

The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency announced on the 25th that as of this year (January to March), the average case processing period across all investigation departments improved to 61.4 days, the lowest since the implementation of the revised Criminal Procedure Act in 2021. The average case processing period, which had been steadily increasing, peaked at 74.3 days in March 2022 and then shifted to a decreasing trend last year (63 days).

In particular, the average case processing period at frontline police stations, which handle most cases, was 59.4 days as of 2024, marking the first time it fell into the 50-day range, a decrease of 18.4% (13.4 days) compared to the highest point of 72.8 days in March 2022.

The National Police Agency reported that not only the case processing period but also the proportion of long-term cases held for over six months significantly improved, decreasing by 33.3% from 11.4% in 2022 to 7.6% in 2023. This downward trend has continued this year, indicating a stabilization of the indicators.

The number of cases held due to prosecutors' demands or requests (requests for supplementary investigation, reinvestigation, or corrective measures) also decreased by 35.7% to 28,650 cases as of this year, compared to the peak of 44,591 cases in 2022. The number of long-term demand/request cases over six months also dropped significantly by 74.3%, from 13,681 cases in 2022 to 3,515 cases currently.

Since the implementation of the revised Criminal Procedure Act, the difficulty of cases and workload have increased, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the record high case processing period in March 2022.

In response, the National Investigation Headquarters secured maximum field investigation personnel through manpower increases and reallocations, and improved organizational efficiency by diagnosing all departments and consolidating overlapping or unnecessary units through the ‘Investigation Police Renewal’ initiative.

Additionally, the team leader takes full responsibility for the entire case process from receipt to closure, establishing a team leader-centered investigation system. Morale-boosting measures such as special promotions for police inspectors and entire teams have been actively implemented, which is believed to have contributed to the reduction in case processing periods.

The police plan to actively promote ‘case consolidation and focused investigation enhancement’ as a key task this year. In March, they developed a function to collect and analyze clues of crimes early in investigations for six types of financial crimes: investment leading fraud, pseudo-investment and illegal multi-level marketing, violations of the Capital Markets Act, violations of the Special Act on Virtual Assets, illegal private financing, and romance scams.

As a result, when clues overlap, it becomes easier to confirm connections and determine if crimes are committed by the same organization, enabling rapid focused investigations from the early stages for cases with large-scale damages. In May, the application scope will be expanded sequentially to include cybercrime and phishing crimes.

Furthermore, the National Investigation Headquarters plans to significantly improve the ‘Investigator Qualification Management System,’ which assigns qualification grades based on experience and capability, and gradually expand the selection of the highest grade, ‘Chief Investigator.’ Within five years, they aim to assign 1,200 chief investigators, accounting for 20% of section and team leaders.

Woo Jong-su, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, stated, “Reducing duplicate investigations of similar cases by the same offender will decrease the workload of field investigators and allow them to focus their capabilities on necessary investigations, speeding up case processing. We will also broaden opportunities for passionate and competent investigators to obtain chief investigator status to encourage voluntary self-development and continue to enhance the capabilities of selected chief investigators.”