Police Arrest Over 1,900 People in 100 Days Crackdown on Violent Theft and Assault Crimes

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced on the 24th that it conducted a focused crackdown on representative 'livelihood infringement crimes' such as violent theft and violent crimes, arresting 69,133 people over 100 days, of whom 1,962 were detained. Earlier, the police operated a special crackdown period from April 4 to the 12th of this month to eradicate livelihood infringement crimes.

During this period, the police first arrested 32,701 people for violent theft cases, detaining 1,247. The police explained that this figure represents a 12.7% (6,137 people) increase compared to the same period last year (48,458 people). By type, 2,498 offenders committed residential and other intrusion-type violent thefts, of whom 453 were detained. Theft offenders targeting unmanned stores numbered 1,008, with 36 detained.

The police recovered 28,740 stolen items through the crackdown. When converted into monetary value, this amounts to 39 billion KRW. This also shows an increase compared to the same period last year in both the number of recovered items (6.5%↑) and the recovery amount (28%↑). A National Police Agency official said, "Traditional intrusion violent theft crimes targeting apartments and jewelry stores are still occurring," and urged, "Please regularly change the password of automatic front door locks and frequently check the security status of apartment window guards. For stores with only glass doors that have weak security, please additionally install shutters and locks."

The police reported that for violent crime cases, 36,432 people were arrested and 715 detained. They explained that both the number of arrests (16,212) and detentions (398) significantly increased compared to before the focused crackdown. Violent crimes refer to violence around daily life that threatens everyday safety, as well as violence in workplaces and medical settings.

By location of the crime, violent crimes occurring around daily life such as streets, shops, and public transportation accounted for 32,826 cases (94.5%), making up the majority. Violent crimes in workplaces such as offices, factories, and construction sites numbered 1,722 cases (5.0%), followed by 175 cases (0.5%) in medical settings such as hospitals and quarantine sites. The police added that they implemented 1,440 victim safety measures including smart watch distribution, customized patrols, and linkage to protection facilities, as well as 230 cases of economic, psychological, and legal support for violent crime victims.

The National Police Agency stated, "To safely protect the public from crime, we will further strengthen preventive criminal activities based on regional vulnerability factors and analysis results, and maintain a year-round regular crackdown system even after the focused crackdown period."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.