Gwangju Autonomous Police Committee Holds Meeting with School Police Officers

Exchanging Opinions and Listening to Difficulties on School Violence Prevention Measures

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan City Autonomous Police Committee announced on the 2nd that it held a meeting with representatives of School Police Officers (SPO) from each police station at the Northern Youth Police School.

At the meeting, opinions were exchanged on measures to prevent school violence, and difficulties and improvement plans of frontline School Police Officers were heard.

School Police Officers are selected based on their expertise, such as holding degrees or certifications related to youth counseling and experience in juvenile affairs, and are assigned to each police station, each responsible for about 10 schools.

As of July, there are a total of 24 School Police Officers in the Gwangju area (6 in Gwangsan, 2 in Dongbu, 5 in Seobu, 5 in Nambu, and 6 in Bukbu), which is 72.7% of the authorized 33 positions.

The number of schools assigned is 319, with an average of 14.2 schools per officer. Gwangsan and Bukbu stations, which have many schools, each handle more than 16 schools per officer.

Accordingly, last month, the Gwangju Autonomous Police Committee directed the Gwangju Police Agency to operate School Police Officers according to the authorized number when commanding school violence prevention measures.

On the 16th, a ‘School Violence Task-Related Agencies Working-Level Meeting’ will be held to establish a cooperative system for preparing school violence prevention measures.

Kim Taebong, Chairman of the Gwangju Autonomous Police Committee, said, “School violence tends to increase at the beginning of the semester, so the role of School Police Officers is very important,” and added, “I hope that school violence prevention education will be conducted thoroughly and that active handling of reports to the school violence prevention counseling hotline 117 will be carried out.”

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