Twenty days into the revised Criminal Procedure Act, which abolished the Prosecution Service and sharply expanded police investigative powers, the average experience level of police investigators has instead fallen. Veteran investigators were already leaving at an accelerating pace because of heavy workloads, and analysts say the transfer of cases once handled by prosecutors will deepen the loss of core personnel.
Data from the Korean National Police Agency, obtained by The Seoul Economic Daily from the office of Rep. Kang Myung-koo of the People Power Party, showed on the 21st that investigators at 19 organizations — the headquarters and 18 metropolitan and provincial police agencies — averaged 9.4 years of investigative experience this year. That is down about 4% from 9.8 years last year. It is the first time the national average has reversed course; the figure had risen steadily from 2022 through last year. At the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, average investigative experience stood at 7.9 years this year, the shortest in the country and the fourth straight annual decline from 8.6 years in 2022.
The problem is that all investigative authority shifted to the police when the revised Criminal Procedure Act took effect on the 2nd of this month. As of August, police were handling a total of 403,239 cases, about 92% of the 438,650 cases they handled for all of last year. Wanted-suspect cases and unsolved cases previously held by prosecutors are also being transferred to the police, and supplementary investigations will add still more, so the police caseload is expected to grow further. With cases piling up and average investigative experience moving backward, there is concern that the work will inevitably suffer.
Compounding the problem, the departure of investigators is also accelerating. Through August this year, 633 officers voluntarily gave up their investigator designation, already exceeding the 565 recorded for all of last year. The designation is a system under which the police separate investigative fields such as criminal, white-collar and forensic investigation from general policing in order to develop specialized investigative staff. A rise in officers surrendering the designation means aversion to investigative units within the police is deepening.
One of the main reasons officers are leaving investigative units is the heavy workload. According to police data obtained by Kang's office, monthly overtime per person at investigative units in the 19 organizations, including headquarters, averaged 69.5 hours this year, close to 70 hours. The national monthly average has risen every year, from 59.8 hours in 2023 to 64.9 hours in 2024 and 67.8 hours last year. Regional gaps are wide. In Incheon, investigators averaged 83 hours of overtime a month this year, 13.5 hours, or 19.4%, above the national average. Daejeon, by contrast, came in below the average at 55.4 hours.
Some also warn that the loss of experienced investigators could accelerate. Some senior investigators at the superintendent and senior inspector levels who were passed over for promotion see a move to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency as a new opportunity. Law firms are also competing to hire lawyers with police backgrounds as police investigative powers expand. Officers in the field say they are increasingly worried about a vicious cycle in which heavy workloads drive investigators out, adding to the burden on those who remain.
The police agency has announced measures to reinforce investigative staffing, but critics call it a shell game because it largely reassigns existing personnel with no investigative experience. The police added 1,907 officers to investigative units from last year through the first half of this year and plan to assign about 2,100 more in the second half. The second-half reinforcement, however, centers on cutting 1,040 positions from riot police units nationwide and reassigning them to investigative units. That means a larger headcount will not readily translate into greater investigative capacity. In particular, newly designated investigators require several years of training alone, prompting analysts to call for a more fundamental solution.
Lee Yoon-ho, a professor of police administration at Dongguk University, said it will be difficult to stop investigators from leaving unless working conditions improve at a time when the abolition of the Prosecution Service has increased the investigative burden. "What matters most in investigation is expertise and know-how, and reassigning riot police personnel to investigative units is merely filling seats," the professor said. "If investigators are to shoulder such heavy workloads, they need commensurate motivation, and the key is promotion and compensation. Incentives must be sharply strengthened by expanding special promotions for investigators and increasing investigation expense allowances."
Kang said that while prosecution reform is expanding the investigative powers and responsibilities of the police, experienced investigative personnel are leaving the field. "Shell-game staffing that only increases the number of investigators cannot guarantee the quality of investigations," the lawmaker said. "Practical improvements in working conditions, including a stronger compensation system, must be prepared so that heavy workloads are eased and experienced investigators stay in the field. Because the public ultimately bears the cost of shoddy investigations, the government must take responsibility and come up with fundamental measures."