Hwaseong City Moves to Establish Ordinance to Protect Employees from Verbal and Physical Abuse by Civil Petitioners

Establishment of Civil Petition Improvement Team for Prevention, Counseling, and Legal Support
Jung Myunggeun: "Creating a Work Environment Where Employees Can Feel at Ease"

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province is moving to strengthen institutional measures to protect its employees from verbal abuse and physical assault by civil petitioners.

On April 21, the city announced that it is in the process of amending the "Ordinance on the Protection of Civil Petition Handlers of Hwaseong City" to institutionalize the basis for protecting and supporting public officials who deal with unusual or difficult civil petitions. According to the city, once the ordinance is enacted, various support measures will be implemented to ensure a safe working environment for employees, including psychological counseling, medical expense support, and legal assistance.

In addition to the ordinance amendment, the city is also preparing a variety of safety measures to protect public officials from illegal acts committed by civil petitioners.

Earlier, in January, the city established a "Civil Petition Improvement Team" through an organizational restructuring. This dedicated team is tasked with effectively responding to unusual petitions, such as those involving verbal abuse, physical assault, repeated complaints, or malicious intent. The new team is responsible for providing preemptive training on handling such cases, developing preventive measures, presenting response strategies when incidents occur, offering psychological counseling, and supporting legal action.

As part of its efforts to create a safer work environment, the city will also introduce 40 additional portable protection devices (wearable cameras). These newly introduced wearable cameras are ultra-lightweight, necklace-style devices equipped with video and audio recording functions. The recorded footage and audio will serve as evidence in the event of an incident requiring legal action. The additional devices will be distributed to 32 civil petition departments, including city hall, administrative welfare centers in towns, townships, and neighborhoods, as well as branch offices. The city is also considering further distribution in the second half of the year, depending on the effectiveness of the devices and budget conditions.

Since last month, the city has been piloting an automated response system (ARS) in civil petition departments and plans to expand it to all departments in the second half of this year. Through this, the city aims to improve the efficiency of civil petition consultations while also strengthening measures to protect employees.

Jung Myunggeun, mayor of Hwaseong City, stated, "The establishment of the Civil Petition Improvement Team is the first step toward creating a safe and healthy communication environment for both citizens and public officials," adding, "We will do our utmost to provide high-quality administrative services to citizens and to ensure that our employees can work with peace of mind."