Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Seoul City Joint 'Elder Abuse' Preemptive Inspection
110 Families at Risk Selected... 24 Victims Protected
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] #1. Mr. A, a man in his 40s who blamed his alcoholic state on his father. Mr. A habitually assaulted his father in his 70s, but the father was reluctant to cooperate with the police, fearing that his son would be punished, and refused to give a victim statement. The joint inspection team of the police and the Elder Protection Agency persistently persuaded the victimized father. Eventually, they secured a victim statement and booked the son, Mr. A, for assault against a family member. They also applied for a temporary measure to prevent Mr. A from approaching his father's residence.
#2. In March of this year, in a district of Seoul, a woman in her 50s suffering from schizophrenia injured her mother in her 70s with a weapon. The police arrested the daughter on the spot on charges of special assault against a family member and arranged for emergency hospitalization. However, after the hospitalization period ended, she was discharged in June, three months later. When the joint inspection team visited the home afterward, the daughter continued to exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia such as auditory hallucinations, and the mother feared further abuse. The police persuaded the mother to have the daughter re-hospitalized to prevent additional abuse and also provided economic support such as separating their residences.
Seoul Police have taken proactive measures regarding the increasingly serious issue of elder abuse. On the 8th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it conducted inspections on 110 households in Seoul suspected of elder abuse in cooperation with the Seoul city government and the Elder Protection Agency.
According to the police, elder abuse cases in Seoul have shown a clear increasing trend: 1,316 cases in 2018, 1,429 in 2019, and 1,800 last year. Especially, 1,279 cases were reported in just the first half of this year, a 46% increase compared to the same period last year.
To prevent elder abuse, the police first selected 110 households. They targeted 72 elders who had been reported to the police three or more times for suspected abuse from January last year to May this year, and 38 elders under case management by the Elder Protection Agency. As a result of the inspections, they protected 24 elders who were victims of abuse like the cases mentioned above and carried out preventive activities including economic support.
The police plan to actively promote elder abuse prevention policies in cooperation with related organizations as society approaches a super-aged stage. Especially, with the advent of the autonomous police era, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Seoul city government, and the Elder Protection Agency will seek ways to improve the elder abuse response system, including regular joint inspections and victim protection.
Choi Gwan-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said, "Elder abuse is a serious social problem and an important issue our society must solve. With the advent of the autonomous police era, we will do our best to create a security environment that Seoul citizens can feel directly."
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