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 police force is struggling to keep up with the task of monitoring electronic ankle monitors, despite a significant rise in rule violations this year. According to data released by the Ministry of Justice, there were 599 violations between January and July of this year, with 590 of those breaches involving curfew or stay-at-home orders.
The total number of criminals being monitored by GPS-tracked electronic anklets has grown to 5,273 as of July, an increase of 9.24% from the end of 2025. The ministry expects this number to surpass 5,500 by the end of the year. However, the field officers tasked with overseeing these monitors are severely outnumbered. As of August, only 234 officers were assigned to monitor the 5,273 anklet wearers.
This means each officer is responsible for an average of 20.4 anklet wearers, a significant jump from the 17.1 officers per wearer in 2022. The situation has worsened since 2013 when the ministry established special crime prevention units, pairing probation officers with martial arts experts to track the movements of anklet wearers and apprehend violators.
Currently, there are 167 martial arts officers, falling short of the official quota of 170. The field officers tasked with this monitoring are now struggling to cope with the increasing number of anklet wearers under their watch.
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.
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