3935 Major Crimes in 2019, 26% Decrease Compared to 2014 (1358 Residential Burglaries in 2019, 43% Decrease from 2014)...Expansion of Crime Prevention Infrastructure and Resident Participation in Village Safety Programs This Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that the 'Crime Zero Project,' which was promoted to reduce the crime rate in general residential areas, has shown high effectiveness by decreasing the occurrence of the five major crimes.
The Crime Zero Project has been implemented since 2014 by the district, applying crime statistics analysis results and joint field surveys by civilians, government, and police to expand customized crime prevention facilities in vulnerable areas and promote resident-participatory village safety programs.
According to crime status data from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, in 2018, the per capita occurrence of the five major crimes (murder, robbery, rape/sexual assault, theft, and violence) in Seoul was 0.0073 cases, ranking third lowest among the 25 autonomous districts.
Compared to 2014, the five major crimes decreased from 5,312 cases in 2014 to 3,935 cases in 2019, achieving about a 26% reduction. In particular, burglary in general residential areas dropped approximately 43%, from 2,404 cases in 2014 to 1,358 cases in 2019.
This is the result of the district's efforts since 2014 to reduce crime rates in general residential areas, which are relatively more vulnerable than apartments, by expanding various crime prevention infrastructures such as area-specific customized Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
From the early stages of the project to the present, the district has significantly expanded crime prevention infrastructure, including 713 high-definition CCTVs, 785 security lights, 192 convex mirrors, and 6,988 visible gas pipe covers. Additionally, crime prevention environments were created with 329 fence paintings, 987 guide signs, 1,356 safety mirrors, and 27 safety fences.
Based on these efforts, the district achieved a first-grade rating for three consecutive years from 2017 in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's evaluation and the regional safety index in the field of living safety.
This year, the district will continue the Crime Zero Project by expanding crime prevention infrastructure in vulnerable areas, activating autonomous crime prevention squads, operating resident-participatory village safety programs, and providing crime prevention education.
First, a joint field survey by civilians, government, and police will be conducted until the 29th of this month. A five-member investigation team will be formed to survey seven general residential neighborhoods and 18 districts to identify high-crime areas and locations for crime prevention installations. Based on the survey results and feedback from local residents such as police precincts and community leaders, installation locations and facilities will be finalized.
Additionally, LED security lights and small lamps will be installed to improve nighttime alley lighting, along with CCTVs equipped with 360-degree rotation functions. Crime prevention infrastructure will include logo projectors that display specific phrases or images on the ground, convex mirrors, safety fences, solar-powered sensors, anti-slip luminous stair sheets, and crime prevention covers.
A resident-participatory village safety program will also be operated. The autonomous crime prevention squad, consisting of 331 members across 17 neighborhoods, will patrol vulnerable areas, and volunteers will participate in painting old and faded fences and retaining walls.
During the summer vacation season, joint crime prevention campaigns by civilians, government, and police will be conducted, along with outreach crime prevention projects targeting vulnerable groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities.
In January this year, the Nowon Smart City Integrated Operation Center achieved a nationwide first by capturing a marijuana transaction scene through crime prevention CCTV monitoring and arresting the suspect in the act.
Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, stated, “Proactive preventive policies are important rather than reactive administration that fixes the barn after losing the cow,” and added, “We will do our best to create a safe neighborhood where all residents can live comfortably through continuous project performance analysis and collecting residents’ opinions.”
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