▲ Colleagues mourning a police officer who died in the line of duty
Amid growing concern as the suicide rate among police officers exceeds twice that of general government employees, the police have decided to manage mental health issues at the organizational level rather than leaving them as individual matters.
The Korean National Police Agency announced today (August 20) that it has prepared and will implement the "2026 Comprehensive Countermeasures for Police Suicide Prevention."
Due to the nature of their duties, police officers are at a high risk of exposure to psychological shock and stress as they are repeatedly exposed to violent crimes, accidents, and disaster sites.
Over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, an average of 23 police officers took their own lives each year. Last year saw 25 deaths, and 16 have already taken their own lives this year as of this month.
Over the past five years, the suicide rate among police officers stood at 17.7 per 100,000 population, approximately 2.1 times that of non-police general government employees, which was 8.6.
Previously, crisis situations could only be identified when individuals directly applied for counseling or treatment. Accordingly, the police have formulated measures to proactively detect risk signals rather than waiting for requests for help.
First, comprehensive mental health checkups will be conducted for all police officers.
This transforms the existing "Police Job Aptitude Test" into a health and welfare-oriented "Police Mental Health Comprehensive Checkup," while significantly shortening the testing cycle from five years to two.
If test results classify an officer as belonging to a high-risk or caution group, counselors will directly reach out to provide counseling and connect them to hospital treatment when necessary.
Regular psychological counseling, which was previously limited to certain overworked departments, will be expanded to all employees.
In the long term, the agency plans to ensure that all police officers receive psychological counseling at least once a year, similar to a regular health checkup, by establishing a "one counselor per police station" system.
This year, mandatory counseling for all employees will be pilot-tested at two police stations and three district offices, with counselors to be deployed to 60 police offices next year.
Mechanisms will also be established for the organization to directly reach out and support police officers experiencing suicide risks or psychological difficulties.
"Police Life-Saving Councils" will be formed at each office to monitor the condition of employees who have experienced shocking incidents, sustained physical or psychological injuries on duty, or are returning from long-term sick leave or a leave of absence, and to determine necessary support.
Support for police officers who suffer psychological trauma at incident scenes will also be reinforced.
The scope of emergency psychological support recipients—previously limited to cases involving witnessing a death or facing direct threats to life—will be expanded to include events such as the suicide of a colleague, disasters, and social catastrophes.
The barriers to receiving mental health treatment will also be lowered.
Up to now, financial support for psychiatric treatment was provided only after receiving prior counseling at a Mind Companion Center. Moving forward, costs will be covered even if officers receive direct treatment at partner hospitals without prior counseling.
The organization's role in the process of recognizing a death in the line of duty following an employee's suicide will also be strengthened.
Dedicated police officers for bereaved families will be designated to assist with funeral and official recognition application procedures, and materials proving work-relatedness—such as work stress, heavy workloads, workplace harassment, and aftereffects of official injuries—will be gathered from the early stages.
"Psychological autopsies," which observe psychological and behavioral changes prior to death through statements and records from bereaved families and colleagues, will also be introduced to analyze causes and reflect them in future preventive measures.
※ If you or someone you know is experiencing difficult emotions such as depression, you can receive 24-hour expert counseling through the suicide prevention hotline at ☎109 or the suicide prevention SNS counseling service "Madeulan."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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