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National Police Agency building. / Reporter Park Sung-il

Police are reviewing a plan to divide investigation departments at major stations with heavy caseloads. The current system, in which a single chief oversees as many as 70–80 investigators, is seen as limiting effective case review and command.

According to the National Police Agency on June 10, discussions are underway with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to split investigation divisions at some large stations and create new inspector-level chief positions. Around 42 new posts are being considered.

The plan does not involve raising all division chiefs to senior superintendent rank. Instead, the focus is on splitting departments at high-demand stations to add more command lines. Some large Seoul stations such as Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa already operate with multiple investigation divisions, and this model may be expanded.

Internally, concerns have grown that chiefs at large stations face excessive burdens. While typical divisions have about 40 staff, top-tier stations often require one chief to manage 70–80 personnel, making thorough case review and oversight difficult.

By splitting divisions, police aim to reduce each chief’s span of control and strengthen case management. Sharing responsibility across economic, intelligence, and cybercrime cases could improve both quality and speed of investigations.

Final implementation and scale remain undecided, as organizational and staffing adjustments require ministry approval. The plan may be reflected during personnel reallocations later this year.

Separately, police are considering raising the rank of chiefs at 17 stations with commissioner-level heads but no superintendent-level division chiefs, to better align command authority with station size.

Oversight of investigations will also be strengthened. Plans include legalizing the operation of investigation review committees, granting prosecutors authority to request disciplinary action for noncompliance, expanding leadership evaluations to more units, and introducing nationwide surveys on investigative rights.

A police agency official stated, “At some stations, one chief oversees too many investigators, limiting case review and command. We are reviewing splitting divisions at selected stations.”

                                                                                                          Seol So-young