40-50 Cases Assigned to Rookie Investigators
Causes Pointed Out Including High-Intensity Inspections by the Office of Inspection
The National Police Workplace Council (Police Council) on the 27th urged, regarding the deaths of three frontline police officers within a week, “The Commissioner General of the National Police Agency and the Chief of the National Investigation Headquarters must take responsibility and prepare fundamental improvement measures,” and called to “immediately stop all performance evaluations focused solely on results.”
In a statement released that day, the Police Council said, “What was the reason that rookie investigators felt compelled to choose death?” and added, “Due to the unilateral establishment of the Mobile Patrol Unit and Criminal Mobile Unit without field communication, there have been countless discussions internally about the pain at the scene caused by personnel shortages,” expressing their concerns.
The Police Council pointed out, “Behind the rookie investigators’ choice of suicide lies a serious problem in the police investigation field,” and noted, “It is highly likely that institutional factors related to work stress, such as the pre-transfer responsibility investigation system for personal cases at the National Investigation Headquarters and the high-intensity inspections by the internal affairs department, played a role.”
The Police Council criticized, “Rookie investigators were typically assigned 40 to 50 cases immediately upon appointment and have continuously faced pressure from the National Investigation Headquarters to reduce the number of cases,” and added, “Under the pretext of strengthening the competency evaluation of section and team leaders, measures such as excluding section and team leaders from personnel appointments and operating a system where the bottom 10% of team leaders handling long-term cases are dismissed have placed excessive pressure on investigators, causing stress.”
Earlier, 30-year-old Lieutenant A, who worked in the investigation department of the Seoul Gwanak Police Station, took his own life on the 19th. Lieutenant A sent messages to colleagues such as “There are 73 cases. I’m going to die like this,” “I feel like dying. I see no way out,” and “Cases just keep piling up.” Sergeant B, in his 40s, who was in charge of investigation work at the Seoul Hyehwa Police Station, jumped into the Han River the day before but was rescued. Sergeant B was reportedly expressing stress about his work. Corporal C, in his 20s, belonging to the Security Division of the Yesan Police Station in Chungnam, took his own life on the 22nd. Corporal C was also known to have complained about work burdens. Sergeant D, in his 40s, who worked in the Administration Division of the Seoul Dongjak Police Station, lost consciousness and collapsed in the office on the 19th and eventually died.
The National Police Agency announced that it will examine the structural problems at the frontline and work on improving working conditions. Commissioner General Yoon Hee-geun urgently ordered the formation of a “Field Working Conditions Diagnosis Team” to be overseen by the Deputy Commissioner General of the National Police Agency.
※ If you have difficult-to-talk-about concerns such as depression, or if you have family or acquaintances experiencing such difficulties, you can receive counseling from experts 24 hours a day by calling the suicide prevention counseling hotline ☎109.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
