[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] Jeju Police Agency (Chief Lee Sang-ryul) announced on the 22nd that it will operate the Jeju Security Guard System (JSS), a joint response council for vulnerable groups in public safety, to build a social safety net through cooperation and solidarity within the local community.
The Jeju Security Guard System is a comprehensive joint management system in which all functions of the local community?including police, local governments, hospitals, legal sectors, and women's organizations?collaborate to prevent the recurrence of crimes and support victims to become self-reliant.
Although the police's on-site response to vulnerable groups in Jeju shows the highest level nationwide in active case handling and restraining orders against perpetrators, the number of reports per 100,000 people remains high compared to the national average at 112 reports.
According to the 2022 Jeju Social Indicators Report, social conflict factors such as drinking rate, smoking rate, and divorce rate are also relatively high compared to other regions. Some protection agencies have consistently pointed out that crimes against vulnerable groups, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and school violence, which have repetitive characteristics, cannot be prevented solely through post-incident support measures. They emphasize the need for a systematic response system that identifies the causes of occurrence and resolves problems in advance.
The Jeju Security Guard System (JSS) operates as a dual-structured system composed of a joint response council for vulnerable groups in public safety, consisting of heads or department heads of 47 institutions and organizations within the province responsible for protecting and supporting vulnerable groups such as children, adolescents, the elderly, and the disabled, and the JSS Working Council, composed of practical officers from the council.
The joint response council for vulnerable groups holds regular meetings twice a year at the Jeju Police Agency to review support cases and decide related policies.
The JSS Working Council is organized within police stations and holds meetings as needed to analyze the causes of crimes and establish and execute support measures for individual cases selected by the police and protection agencies as requiring assistance.
From the 11th of last month to the 10th of this month, Jeju Police visited 47 participating institutions to explain the overview and necessity of operating the Jeju Security Guard System, and most institutions and organizations expressed understanding and willingness to actively participate.
At 2 p.m. on the same day, a launch ceremony for the ‘Joint Response Council for Vulnerable Groups in Public Safety,’ attended by heads of 47 institutions and organizations, will be held at the Jeju Police Agency auditorium.
All participants at the launch ceremony agreed that cooperation among all functions of the local community is essential to prevent crimes against vulnerable groups, and they decided to continuously expand the number of participating institutions by discovering more support agencies in the future.
Additionally, due to the lack of integrated information on victim support institutions and organizations and the opinion that ‘information sharing on support projects from multiple institutions is necessary,’ a ‘Jeju Region Vulnerable Groups Integrated Support Network’ information booklet, which comprehensively allows quick access to ‘contact information of support agencies, support targets, and details,’ will be produced and distributed to all participating institutions as soon as possible.
Lee Sang-ryul, Chief of Jeju Police Agency, said, “Rather than aiming for visible effects in a short period, the Jeju Security Guard System requires interest and participation from all sectors of society to ensure the system is successfully established in the long term,” and added, “We ask for active participation to create a safe Jeju community.”
Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil baekok@asiae.co.kr
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