Chungnam Fire Department "Zero Tolerance and Strong Response to Assaults on Firefighters"

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Chungnam Fire Headquarters has announced a policy to respond strongly with a zero-tolerance principle to incidents of assault against firefighters.

A paramedic is being threatened by a patient during transport. The photo is unrelated to the article. Photo by Asia Economy DB

According to Chungnam Fire on the 16th, there have been a total of 45 cases of assault against firefighters in the jurisdiction over the past five years, of which 42 cases (93%) were confirmed to be caused by intoxicated individuals.

Among the perpetrators, the largest number by age group was those in their 40s with 12 cases, followed by 10 cases in their 50s and 9 cases in their 20s. In terms of gender, there were 40 male and 5 female perpetrators, and Saturday was identified as the day with the highest number of incidents at 12 cases.

Previously, in 2016, Chungnam Fire established a special judicial police unit and hired lawyers to directly investigate perpetrators who assaulted firefighters and refer them to the prosecution.

In addition, this year, the number of special judicial police officers will be increased from the existing 139 to 200, and a zero-tolerance principle will be applied to enable rapid response to fire-related offenders.

The Fire Services Act stipulates that perpetrators who assault or threaten firefighters performing fire activities may be punished by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

In particular, since last year, Chungnam Fire explained that the mitigation provisions under criminal law for intoxicated or mentally ill individuals have been excluded, making punishment possible.

Kim Jong-wook, Director of the Fire Integrity Audit Division at Chungnam Fire, said, “The safety of firefighters is the safety of the residents,” and added, “We will also strengthen the expertise of the fire special judicial police to eradicate offenders who obstruct fire activities and threaten the safety of firefighters.”