Gyeonggi Province Southern Autonomous Police Commission Pushes Forward 'Comprehensive Safety Plan for Children and Youth'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Ahead of expanded school attendance on September 6, the Gyeonggi Province Southern Autonomous Police Commission announced on the 30th that it has established a 'Comprehensive Safety Plan for Children and Youth' in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency and will actively promote strengthened school route safety management.

The 'Comprehensive Safety Plan for Children and Youth' aims to support the creation of a safe learning environment and includes deployment of traffic police on 511 school routes, strengthened traffic enforcement during after-school hours, enhanced preventive patrols targeting sex offenders, and intensive crackdowns on harmful establishments near schools.

The Autonomous Police Commission held an extraordinary session on the 27th and passed the 'Comprehensive Safety Plan for Children and Youth' containing these measures.

Under the comprehensive plan, the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency will first deploy traffic police to 511 vulnerable school route locations and strengthen traffic safety management activities during school hours in cooperation with partner organizations such as exemplary drivers and green mothers' associations.

The agency will strengthen cooperation with cities and counties through intensive crackdowns on illegal parking and stopping on school routes, and during after-school hours (14-18 hours) when child traffic accidents increase, will use camcorders and mobile traffic enforcement equipment to crack down on dangerous driving behaviors threatening child safety, such as violations of pedestrian protection obligations. The agency will also identify school bus routes in advance and conduct guidance and enforcement against violations of special protection regulations, such as prohibiting overtaking of school buses during school hours.

Additionally, to prevent youth crime and school violence, the agency will conduct grade-specific prevention education utilizing cyber crime prevention education specialists and will carry out protective and support cooperation activities for at-risk youth in connection with parents and related organizations.

The agency will also collect public opinion from local residents and conduct intensive patrols in sections with requested patrol areas to check for hazards, and will implement preventive patrols near residences of sex offenders during school hours.

A joint inspection task force (police, cities and counties, civic organizations, etc.) for harmful establishments near schools will be organized to conduct inspections and crackdowns on illegal business activities, including major youth access and employment-prohibited establishments, sex trafficking advertisements, and prohibited businesses within educational environment protection zones (sex trafficking, similar sexual acts, etc.).

Meanwhile, the Autonomous Police Commission plans to expand social safety awareness through production of public service advertisements for safe school route driving and elimination of child abuse, holding policy forums, and distribution of pedestrian safety notices, while strengthening communication with residents.

Additionally, the commission will conduct big data analysis on foot traffic and accident records near 2,792 child protection zones in southern Gyeonggi by the end of this year to present scientific criteria for school route management, and plans to discuss expansion of yellow signal light installation at major intersections in protection zones.

Under the Autonomous Police Commission's leadership, the commission will collect opinions on coordination with local administration for school police officers (SPO) whose workload has recently surged, and will review institutional improvement measures to materialize the authority of crime prevention police in the region.

Kim Duk-seop, chairperson of the Gyeonggi Province Southern Autonomous Police Commission, said, "I understand that parents are deeply concerned about securing their children's safety as schools reopen amid Level 4 social distancing measures." He added, "We will do our best in cooperation with Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency to ensure that children can receive education in a safer environment."