'Pressing the Emergency Bell Automatically Reports Crime' Ministry of the Interior and Safety Develops Beacon Emergency Bell Urgent Reporting System

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Actively Develops R&D Projects for Disaster Safety Accident Prevention in Collaboration with Local Governments

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] In the future, it is expected that rapid response to crimes and securing the golden time to prevent disaster accidents can be achieved through the development of a dense communication network and a location-based reporting system.

On the 30th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it is developing and promoting a pilot application of the ‘Beacon Emergency Bell Urgent System,’ which allows vulnerable groups such as single-person households and stores to immediately report to the police by pressing a button in an emergency situation.

The ‘Beacon Emergency Bell Urgent Reporting System’ registers user personal information in advance on the beacon device, and in an emergency, pressing the emergency bell button automatically reports the incident via a wireless frequency (RF) network, WiFi network, or mobile phone connected through a mesh network method. It consists of two types: fixed and portable.

The development project of the Beacon Emergency Bell Urgent Reporting System was initiated last year as part of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s regional customized disaster safety problem-solving technology development support project (R&D), proposed by Gyeonggi Province, as the vulnerability of single-person households and stores, such as the elderly, to crime has emerged as a social issue. To test the system’s field applicability and effectiveness, the Ministry has selected Ansan City and Ingye-dong and Uman-dong areas in Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, as pilot regions in cooperation with local police stations.

Additionally, 1,381 participants have been recruited for demonstration, and the number of participants will be expanded until next year to identify issues, improve system performance and convenience, and cooperate further with fire stations to respond to daily safety.

Kim Jae-heum, Disaster Cooperation Policy Officer, said, “This technology can immediately provide necessary daily safety services to the public by identifying the reporter’s location with a simple button operation in sudden accidents or emergencies.” He added, “We plan to actively discover various R&D projects applying advanced IT technologies in cooperation with local governments to prevent disaster safety accidents and solve on-site problems, and to expand budget investment.”