'Seoul Companion Dog Patrol' Expands Activity Area... 98% of Participants Feel Improved Safety Awareness

Various Activities Conducted Through Collaboration with Related Agencies, Including 'Eoreusin Malbeot Sanchaek' and 'Police Station Joint Patrol'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Autonomous Police Committee announced on the 12th that during the expanded operation period of the ‘Seoul Companion Dog Patrol Squad,’ it is expanding its scope of activities to include crime prevention and risk prevention activities, emotional support activities for ‘accompanying the vulnerable,’ and leading activities to establish a ‘proper companion culture.’

The Seoul Metropolitan Autonomous Police Committee is expanding its activities through collaboration with related organizations in each autonomous district, including △ emotional support for abused children in group homes in cooperation with Songpa Police Station △ companionship walks with elderly residents at Seodaemun-gu senior centers △ joint patrol activities linked with local residents in Gangdong and Seongdong Police Stations △ maintaining order at companion dog cultural festivals in Gangdong and Seocho-gu.

In particular, the ‘Walking Together for Tomorrow’ program, which is being piloted in collaboration with Songpa Police Station and the City Without Stray Dogs organization, is highly expected to have positive effects such as alleviating the emotional isolation of children in group homes and enhancing their self-esteem.

The companion dog patrol squads in nine autonomous districts have recorded 4,012 activity logs during the expanded operation period, starting with Gangdong-gu on August 12. Among these, 47 cases were related to crime prevention such as dealing with intoxicated individuals, and 894 cases involved reporting facility safety and inconvenience issues such as broken security lights, demonstrating steady activity results.

A survey of the patrol teams regarding their activity status showed that 86% of the teams patrol more than five times a week on average. The main patrol times were in the order of night, morning, afternoon, and late night, with intensive patrol activities focused on the night, which is a vulnerable time for crime.

Kim Hak-bae, Chairman of the Autonomous Police Committee, said, “I sincerely thank the patrol teams who volunteer in activities for crime prevention in the community and accompanying the vulnerable through the companion dog patrol squad activities,” and added, “We will continue to discover autonomous police security policies through the linkage of public safety administration and local administration.”

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