Gangdong-gu Conducts Malicious Civil Complaint Response Drill

Gangdong-gu Conducts Three Joint Police Drills in May to Respond to Malicious Complaints Involving Verbal Abuse and Violence
Emergency Response Teams Formed and Portable Protective Equipment Used in Realistic Training Simulating Actual Situations

Amid a series of recent incidents involving verbal abuse and violence by malicious complainants, Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Su-hee) conducted emergency response drills on the 10th and 14th in collaboration with the Gangdong Police Station. These drills targeted complaint reception departments within the district office and community service centers.

The district operates an emergency response team at all times to systematically handle malicious complaints. This team is composed of department heads and community center chiefs as team leaders, along with command and control units, initial response units, and complainant evacuation guidance units.

The drills were carried out according to scenarios to ensure that the emergency response team could operate properly according to each unit’s role in actual situations. Police officers also participated, simulating real-life conditions.

Although the drills followed scenarios, the scenes resembled real situations. On the 10th, at the Gangil-dong Community Service Center, a complainant visiting to change housing benefits verbally abused and assaulted staff during consultation. On the 14th, a scenario was conducted at the district office’s Parking Administration Department, where a complainant dissatisfied with an illegal parking fine protested aggressively.

When verbal abuse and violence occurred in the complaint office, the staff used portable protective equipment (body cameras, voice recorders) to record the situation while promptly calling the police via an emergency bell. While the police were en route, the emergency response team safely evacuated the affected staff and complainants and calmed the aggressive complainant. When the verbal abuse and violence did not cease, the team, together with the building’s security guards, restrained the complainant and handed them over to the arriving police officers.

The district plans to conduct another drill on the 30th at the Cheonho 2-dong Community Service Center complaint office.

Lee Su-hee, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, stated, “We must respond firmly to malicious complaints and protect the safety of complaint-handling staff to provide high-quality public services to complainants. We will continue to work closely with the police to create an environment where both staff and complainants can feel safe.”