Among re-reports of stalking and social violence, 78% ‘three or more times’… 52,000 cases last year

Reports of social violence increased by 84% in 4 years... Smartwatch payments increased by 4%

259 police officers dedicated to victims... In level 3, female office staff perform protective duties simultaneously.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ji-eun Han = Last year, there were more than 50,000 re-reports of stalking and dating violence reported to the police, and about 78% of them were reported ‘three or more times’.

Reports of social violence increased by more than 80% from 2021, but the growth rate of smartwatches provided to protect victims was less than 4%.

According to data received from the National Police Agency by People Power Party lawmaker Seo Seong-ok, a member of the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee, on the 11th, there were 19,316 re-reports of stalking and 32,634 re-reports of dating violence last year, for a total of 51,950 cases.

Among stalking re-reports, the number of cases classified as 'three or more times' was 15,090, accounting for 78.1%.

Relationship violence was 25,322 cases, or 77.6%.

Combining the two types, the number of reports ‘three or more times’ was 40,412, or 77.8% of all re-reports.

By region, out of 2,005 re-reports of stalking in Incheon, 1,699 (84.7%) were classified as 'three or more times'.

Northern Gyeonggi Province also exceeded the national rate with 1,602 cases (83.2%) out of 1,925 cases.

While reports of social violence have increased, the increase in related smartwatch payments has been relatively small.

Reports of social violence increased by 83.8% from 57,305 cases in 2021 to 105,327 cases last year.

During the same period, smartwatch payments to victims of social violence increased by 3.6% from 1,919 to 1,988.

There was also a difference in the fact that the distribution of smartwatches to all crime victims approximately doubled from 10,989 to 21,974.

A smartwatch is a device that reports to the police and transmits location information in emergency situations.

The police pay based on the victim's level of risk and the details of the case.

There were 292 cases of private security support for victims assessed as ‘very high’ risk from January to August this year.

Two bodyguards are assigned to each victim, and basic support is provided for 10 hours a day within 7 days, but can be adjusted depending on the risk and situation.

There are 259 victim police officers in charge of such protection and support duties across 262 police stations across the country.

There are no police officers dedicated to victims assigned to any level 3 police station across the country.

At these police stations, female police officers are in charge of managing relationship crimes such as stalking and domestic violence, as well as protecting and supporting victims.

There were also cases where serious damage occurred during safety measures.

From 2022 to July of this year, there were 17 cases in which people subject to safety measures were victims of murder and 13 cases in which they were victims of attempted murder, for a total of 30 cases. All victims are women.

The police's guidelines for responding to related crimes require assessing the risk of recurrence and monitoring victims based on past reporting and admission history.

Rep. Seo emphasized, "We need to move to a system where the police intervenes first with victims for whom signs of danger are identified by comprehensively analyzing the history of repeated reports and the offender's approach and threatening behavior, and takes stronger isolation and measures to prevent repeat offenses for high-risk offenders."