Police short of officers to monitor electronic anklet wearers despite rising violations
Police are facing a shortage of officers to keep track of electronic ankle monitors, despite nearly 600 violations of relevant rules this year alone, data showed Monday. According to the data submitted by the Ministry of Justice to Rep. Kim Han-kyu of the ruling Democratic Party, 599 violations were recorded between January and July this year, 590 of them breaches of curfew or stay-at-home…
The Ministry of Justice reported that nearly 600 violations of electronic ankle monitor rules occurred in the first half of the year, with 590 of those related to curfew or stay-at-home order breaches. As of July, there were 5,273 criminals being monitored by GPS-tracked electronic ankle monitors, a 9.24% increase from the previous year's end.
By year-end, it is projected that this number will surpass 5,500. However, the field officers assigned to monitor these anklet wearers remain insufficient, with only 234 officers as of August. This results in an average of 20.4 anklet wearers per officer, compared to 17.1 per officer in 2022. The establishment of special crime prevention units, pairing a probation officer with a martial arts expert, began in 2013, but currently, there are only 167 martial arts officers, falling short of the official quota of 170.
Field officers also face growing pressure to keep up with the increasing number of monitored individuals.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
