Police will launch an intensive public safety campaign to crack down on stalking, domestic violence and other relationship-based crimes — offenses that disproportionately target women — as well as violent crime more broadly.
The Korean National Police Agency said Wednesday it will run a three-month comprehensive safety initiative from Thursday through Dec. 31 to ease women's fear of crime and improve their sense of security, as a string of violent offenses against women has heightened public anxiety.
With stalking increasingly escalating into murder and other serious crimes, police have set a policy of not closing reports of relationship-based offenses as simple matters. When a 112 emergency call involves such a crime, officers will be dispatched at "Code 1" — the highest-urgency response level — or above.
Police will step up patrols in alleyways and areas with high concentrations of single-person households, where public anxiety tends to run high. Stations in Goyang, Gwangju Gwangsan, Bundang and Jeonju that are already piloting patrol robots will also deploy the machines during the campaign.
To eliminate blind spots in patrol coverage, police plan to expand the installation of crime-prevention infrastructure — including closed-circuit television cameras, lighting and emergency call buttons — in sparsely populated areas. During the intensive patrol period, 45 police drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras will be deployed. Through partnerships with private security firms S1, SK Shielders and KT Telecop, 483 response vehicles will be stationed across 619 vulnerable locations.
Police will also expand a program launched last November that provides crime-prevention equipment such as surveillance cameras to female sole-proprietor business owners, and will strengthen cooperation with multicultural support centers to help foreign women report crimes.
Police have been accepting public tips on crime vulnerabilities affecting women through the Patrol Sinmungo platform on the Police Civil Service 24 portal from Sept. 22 through Oct. 21. Members of the public can report suspicious individuals, dangerous zones and other situations or locations where crime is a concern.
"We will carefully examine every tip from the public, no matter how small, and work to build communities where women can walk and live with peace of mind," a police agency official said.
arin@heraldcorp.com
