Investigation infrastructure for missing persons cases is inadequate… “Early risk screening system needs to be established urgently”

A Seoul police officer bluntly revealed on the 30th that the real estate team lacks structure. Inside sources disclosed the reality that real estate work is being sidelined by more critical departments. Typically, police real estate teams are a part of the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Bureau but are classified under regional self-governing police departments for 'real estate search and discovery.'

This leads to a majority of the 261 police stations nationwide, 114 out of 43.7%, without any real estate team dedicated to handling these cases. The shortage of personnel doesn't help either as the structured rotation of work makes it difficult to build expertise. Experts emphasize the urgent need for a 'systematic risk categorization system' to handle the increasing number of real estate reports and the differing capabilities of police forces.

The sheer volume of real estate reports - amounting to hundreds of thousands annually - requires prioritizing certain cases based on the potential for long-term disappearance, death, or involvement in violent crimes. This is a concept that gained momentum following the Jeju real estate case. Proposed legislation aims to classify adult real estate cases with serious threats to life or physical harm, or those involving suicidal thoughts as 'high-risk' adult real estate incidents, allowing for tracking of location and personal information.

However, even with the legislation in place, the selection process of high-risk cases remains crucial. The police response manual for real estate cases suggests evaluating risk levels at various stages, such as upon receiving a report or when the missing individual has not been found within 12 hours. The problem lies in the reliance on individual intuition and the potential for misjudgment.

Experts like Park Joon-tak from the Korean Criminal and Legal Policy Research Institute emphasize the need for collaboration between specialists and field-experienced police to develop a program that can classify risk levels easily for field police.