Increasing 'Safety Personnel' at Neighborhood Community Centers Amid Rising Verbal and Physical Abuse

Civil Servants Exposed to Verbal Abuse and Threatening Behavior
Nowon-gu Expands from 1 to 4 to 5 Officers... Steady Growth
Gangseo-gu and Dongdaemun-gu Establish Security Guards This Year
Tight Budgets "Necessary but Expansion Slow"

The number of public officials suffering mental and physical distress and damage due to verbal abuse and assault by some complainants is increasing. The photo shows a simulation training session responding to an abusive complainant at the Gayang 2-dong Community Service Center in Gangseo-gu. (Photo by Gangseo-gu Office)

More autonomous districts are increasing the number of safety personnel to protect public officials and other visitors from verbal abuse and physical assault by complainants. Departments that meet numerous complainants daily, such as community service centers in neighborhoods, are constantly exposed to habitual verbal abuse and threatening behavior from some complainants.

Recently, a Grade 9 public official in Gimpo City took their own life after suffering from malicious complaints, and in May last year in Busan, a public official was knocked unconscious after being hit on the head and face by a complainant. Such related incidents continue to occur.

In response, Gangseo-gu in Seoul deployed one safety officer each at two community service centers?Hwagok 1-dong and Deungchon 3-dong?among its 20 neighborhood centers starting from the 1st of this month. The safety officers work during the centers’ operating hours, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, handling tasks such as building management and guiding visitors. Their main duties include preventing violent acts and collecting evidence in emergency situations involving verbal abuse or physical assault. They can also take measures such as contacting nearby police substations if urgent situations arise.

Gangseo-gu decided to assign safety officers because internal surveys, including staff questionnaires, revealed an increasing number of public officials handling complaints suffering from mental and physical harm due to loud verbal abuse and physical violence. While each autonomous district has prepared protection and support measures for complaint-handling officials?such as joint police drills for emergencies, introduction of portable protective equipment (wearable cameras), and posting mutual respect notices?the voices reporting harm have not diminished.

The most proactive district in expanding safety personnel in Seoul is Nowon-gu. In 2022, Nowon-gu piloted the deployment of one security officer dedicated to protection at Hangye 1-dong. Due to positive responses and effectiveness, the number of community centers with security officers increased to four last year. This year, one more center was added, bringing the total to five centers with five officers.

A Nowon-gu official explained, “Monitoring the effect of security officer deployment over three months last year showed two cases of physical violence prevention and 62 cases of calming verbally abusive or agitated complainants. This not only provided emotional stability for staff but also greatly helped in courteous responses to complainants.”

Dongdaemun-gu also began a pilot operation on the 4th of last month by assigning one security officer at Jeonnong 1-dong Community Service Center. This neighborhood was the top choice for deployment in a survey conducted last year among community center staff, so dedicated security personnel were prioritized. The district plans to analyze the effectiveness and decide whether to expand deployment to other neighborhoods.

Illustration by Kim Dahee

Other districts are also considering introduction and expansion, but budget constraints are an obstacle. Gwanak-gu conducted a three-month pilot operation of safety security officers at the university neighborhood community center starting in October last year and confirmed its effectiveness, but could not increase the number this year.

Safety personnel are contracted annually with security service companies, which reduces labor costs compared to hiring fixed-term public officials or permanent contract security guards, but many districts still find even this financially burdensome.

An official from an autonomous district said, “Many districts are considering introduction, but due to a decrease in local government grants, financial management is difficult, so rapid expansion is inevitably challenging.” However, they added, “The trend toward expansion will continue due to safety concerns for the majority of other complainants and increased awareness of staff protection.”