[2024 Budget] Police Support 'One Person, One Gun'... Crime Response Budget Increases from 0.2 Trillion to 1.1 Trillion

Ministry of Economy and Finance Announces 2024 Budget Proposal
Budget for Random Crime Response Increased from 55.3 Billion to 131.9 Billion KRW
Budget for Drug Prevention, Investigation, and Rehabilitation More Than Doubled

The government will invest over 1 trillion won in the budget to strengthen crime response. To counter 'random crimes,' firearms will be distributed to all police officers starting next year. Risk group mental counseling will also be promoted to prevent crimes caused by mental illness.

According to the 2024 budget plan announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 29th, the budget related to crime response is 1.0266 trillion won. This is an increase of 807.1 billion won (367.6%) from last year's 219.5 billion won. The budget for preventing and responding to random crimes increased by 9.4 billion won (671.4%) from 1.4 billion won to 10.8 billion won, and the budget for eradicating drug crimes also rose by 36.4 billion won (152.9%) from 23.8 billion won to 60.2 billion won. The budget for victim support grew from 102.7 billion won to 116.9 billion won. The remaining 712.5 billion won was newly allocated for purchasing housing for victims of jeonse fraud.

Police deployed around Seohyeon Station in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo is unrelated to the article content. [Image source=Yonhap News]

For random crimes, the budget includes 8.6 billion won to supply low-risk pistols to the police. The budget increased by 7.2 billion won from the previous 1.4 billion won. Through this, the plan is to increase the firearms distribution from one firearm per three police officers to one firearm per officer. Additionally, 1.6 billion won was newly allocated to equip 101 riot squads with weapons response gear such as stab-resistant clothing and expandable batons.

The government will also invest 100 billion won in mental counseling for high-risk groups as a crime prevention measure. Over five years, counseling support will be provided to a total of 1 million high- and very high-risk mental illness patients. The number of suicide prevention telephone counselors will be increased from 80 to 100.

The government's significant increase in the crime response budget is due to growing public anxiety following recent stabbing rampages and a series of murder threat posts. Since Cho Seon (33) was arrested after a stabbing rampage in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, on the 21st of last month, resulting in four casualties, similar crimes have been occurring frequently. According to the National Police Agency, there were 316 stabbing rampage incidents from the 4th to the 25th. As of the previous day, 476 'murder threat' posts were discovered, with the police arresting 235 people and detaining 23.

The drug budget has more than doubled across prevention, investigation, and rehabilitation sectors. Public drug prevention education increased from 300 million won to 4.5 billion won, and the budget for misuse prevention publicity projects rose from 900 million won to 3 billion won. A budget of 15.7 billion won is allocated for the introduction of drug investigation and surveillance equipment, and 2.2 billion won will be spent on tracking virtual currency to prevent distribution and smuggling. Addiction rehabilitation centers will expand from 3 locations to 17 nationwide. The newly established 24-hour drug counseling call center was allocated 1.4 billion won.

Additionally, 3.1 billion won was allocated for the installation of a one-stop solution center that provides legal and financial support to crime victims simultaneously. The number of dedicated lawyers for sexual violence victims will increase from 43 to 53, with the budget growing accordingly from 9.7 billion won to 11.5 billion won.

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