Living in life-or-death situations

Police guard the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 1, ahead of the opening of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. / Korea Times file

Police face higher risk of sudden death than general public servants

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Everybody knows being a police officer is not an easy job.

Facing emergencies almost every day is highly stressful.

Unlike general public servants who usually work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., police work shifts almost 12 hours long.

One police officer in southern Seoul, for instance, suffers from extreme stress.

But there is nothing he can do about it because his department lacks manpower, he said.

After finishing a night shift that normally goes from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., he has return to work the same day to finish other filed petitions.

“We are not forced to work late hours but our petitioners have no patience. All they want is to solve their cases as quickly as possible,” said a police officer who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to talk to media.

“Working hours may vary depending on police agency size, but we normally pull 50-60 hours a week.”

Due to this harsh environment, police officers are 1.8 times more likely to face sudden death than general public servants, according to Hanyang University Medical Center (HUMC).

This HUMC study is based on nationwide data collected from the Korean National Health Insurance program between 2002 and 2014.

Most of them die from acute myocardial infarction, or heart attacks, the center noted.

A total of 860,221 public officers were included in this study.

Police officers accounted for 10.8 percent, firefighters 2.7 percent, public educational officers 39.4 percent, and national and regional government officers 47.1 percent.

“The result is statistically significant since we have included health problems potentially related to work,” said Kim In-ah, a professor at HUMC who led the research project, in a report.

As the study hints police have a higher risk of dying due to overwork, a senior police official at a patrol division said being exposed to traumatic events and dealing with unruly drunks is tough to handle.

“Managing the patrol division is both physically and mentally challenging because I often witness physical abuse, suicides and fires,” he said.

To prevent officers' sudden death, the National Police Agency is taking small steps to review reducing working hours at police stations.

The agency has been running mental health centers for police officers since 2014.

“We offer psychology consultation to police officers suffering from depression or other illnesses, as well as those who have had traumatic experiences,” said Park Sun-hwa, a police official.

“We are also well aware of the fact the incidence of diseases has been reported to be higher among police officers. That's why we offer special medical checkups every other year that offer a more detailed analysis of cardiovascular diseases.”