Internal police assessments found 338 section chiefs and team leaders in frontline investigative departments unsuitable for investigation-command duties over the past three years.
The finding is significant because these are not entry-level positions. Section chiefs and team leaders direct the work of investigators handling active cases, making their judgment and supervisory ability part of the quality-control system for police investigations.
Seoul recorded the largest number of unsuitable ratings for three consecutive years. The data therefore point to a recurring management problem inside the country's biggest policing environment rather than an isolated result from a single annual review.
Qualified investigators are not concentrated in command posts
The qualification figures add another layer. Among officers holding the responsible-investigator qualification, only about 6% were serving as section chiefs and 37% as team leaders. That does not mean every manager without the qualification is unfit, or that holding it guarantees good leadership. It does show that many officers with a recognized higher-level investigative credential are not currently occupying the command posts where that experience could be most directly used.
The staffing problem is allocation of expertise. Police can assess managers and certify experienced investigators, but the value of those systems depends on whether the results influence actual appointments. If unsuitable managers remain in command while qualified investigators stay outside leadership roles, the assessment process risks becoming descriptive rather than corrective.
Personnel choices will show whether the review changes practice
This matters beyond internal staffing. People whose cases move through police investigative units depend on supervisors who can recognize weak evidence, delays and investigative gaps, and who can direct investigators when a case becomes more complex.
Police have indicated that they want to expand the placement of experienced investigators in leadership roles. Future staffing data will show whether that policy narrows the gap between qualification and command responsibility.