The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced that its night patrol service in residential areas concentrated with single-person households has seen over 2,500 cases of crime prevention over the past nine months since its full-scale implementation in April, having gained positive attention with a 92.3% public satisfaction rate.

The night patrol service, comprising a total of 63 authorized patrol agents (i.e. retired police officers, certified martial artists, etc.), dispatched teams of two in 15 areas with a high concentration of single-person households for crime prevention and safety from 9 PM to 2:30 AM where police patrol vehicles cannot access (e.g. narrow alleyways).

Compared to last year’s two-month pilot operation which saw 160 cases of safety reports, this year’s nine-month operation has seen a drastic rise in outcome with over 2,500 reported cases, proving the efficacy and efficiency of the service to cover the blind spots of public safety inaccessible by police patrol vehicles.

While one of the major focuses of the night patrol service is ensuring public security by escorting citizens home at late hours, it has also shown exemplary efforts by ensuring public safety by preventing dangerous situations that could have led to major accidents, such as discovering hazardous and mismanaged facilities (e.g. a gas leak in a residential basement boiler room, a dilapidated set of residential stairs on the verge of collapsing, a shock hazard of loose electrical wires, and a pavement on the verge of collapsing due to burst pipes). The night patrol agents reported such cases to relevant offices and even handled spontaneous events, such as assisting a drunk woman who was causing a public disturbance with threats of self-inflicted harm by calling the police.

Seoul plans to continue its efforts to protect citizens’ lives by expanding this night patrol service by working in collaboration with the Seoul Autonomous Police Commission to share common-use guard posts with local autonomous crime prevention units, exchange public security knowhow with private security companies, strengthen patrol activities in crime-prone areas, and more.