Four Bills Proposed to Strengthen SPOs
"Utilize Principals' Authority Rather Than Expanding SPOs"
Amid growing calls to strengthen 'School Police Officers (SPO)' following the murder of an elementary school student in Daejeon, concerns have been raised about the need for caution in expanding the role of police within educational spaces such as schools.
According to the National Assembly Legislative Information System on the 10th, four bills aimed at strengthening SPOs were proposed after the Daejeon incident. Members of the People Power Party?Kim Sohee, Kim Doeup, Choi Sujin?and Kang Kyungsook of the Innovation Party each submitted bills. The proposals include mandating the deployment of SPOs in every school and expanding their roles to cover not only school violence but also all types of 'on-campus crimes.'
The SPO system was established as part of a government-wide initiative to eradicate school violence after a middle school student in Daegu committed suicide in 2011 due to bullying. SPOs handle tasks such as preventing school violence, guiding juvenile offenders, and preventing youth delinquency. Although about 100 additional officers were added last year, the current number of 1,133 means each officer is responsible for approximately 10.7 schools, leading to calls for increasing personnel. To mandate SPOs in every school, approximately 11,000 new officers would need to be deployed.
However, concerns have been raised about potential problems if SPOs, who are police officers with judicial authority, are more widely deployed in the educational environment of schools. Kim Haksoo, a police sergeant in the Youth Protection Division of the National Police Agency, stated at a Legislative Research Service briefing on the 6th, "Currently, even when police respond to crimes reported at schools, they notify the school principal in advance and intervene cautiously to protect the autonomy of the educational space and student rights, such as prohibiting arrests in front of many people and conducting investigations in private locations." He explained, "If police powers are exercised frequently every time school violence occurs on campus, the affected student may be stigmatized as a 'criminal student.'"
He also emphasized that fundamentally, the responsibility for ensuring safety on campus should be strengthened for school principals. Sergeant Kim said, "Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, school safety is the authority of the school principal," adding, "Under the principal's responsibility, measures such as installing emergency bells and CCTV, conducting safety inspections, improving facilities to eliminate blind spots, and expanding student protection personnel like 'Baumteo Jikimi' (learning space guardians) should be prioritized."
Additionally, examples from New York and Los Angeles in the United States were cited, proposing the deployment of school security officers or Special Judicial Police Officers (Teuksagyeong) on campuses. Special Judicial Police Officers are public officials with the authority to prosecute and investigate limited to specific fields.
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