Jeju Police Officer Arrested for Falsifying Missing Person Reports

A Jeju police officer has been arrested for allegedly falsifying the closure of missing person reports due to increased workload and the burden of case handovers.

On September 1, the Jeju Police Agency transferred Officer A from the Jeju Western Police Station to prosecutors on charges of dereliction of duty and other offenses.

According to police, Officer A is accused of misleading the family of a missing woman in her 30s by claiming to have confirmed her safety without actually contacting her. This incident occurred after he received the missing person report on May 30. He is also suspected of similarly falsifying the closure of a missing person case involving a man in his 60s reported in July.

In police questioning, Officer A stated, "I thought the missing person was a typical adult and was complacent. I falsified the closure due to the burden of many tasks that needed to be managed if the case remained open."

Specifically, Officer A entered the missing woman’s information into the missing person profiling system as a 'traffic accident victim' and the man as 'location found,' effectively removing them from the management list. Other officers, accepting these false records as fact, sent family members of the missing individuals away when they attempted to file additional reports, resulting in further tragedy. The two missing persons were found dead 104 days and 51 days after their respective reports were filed.

An analysis by five psychological analysts indicated that the primary motive for Officer A's actions stemmed from accumulated work pressure and a sense of increased responsibility leading to negligence. A police official explained, "The suspect's avoidance behavior and irresponsible attitude likely contributed to the decision to falsify the case closures."

Initially, Officer A denied the allegations or refused to provide statements, but he acknowledged all charges once police presented objective evidence, including call records.

The police are also conducting a comprehensive review of 298 cases handled by Officer A in the missing persons unit from March 2022 to July 2023. Among these, 63 cases were found to have either not been entered into the missing person profiling system or were deleted from the management list. The National Police Agency is currently conducting separate inspections of the supervisors and fellow officers who were responsible at that time.