Amid rising violence, Korea's police officers receive safety gear makeover

Social Affairs

Published: 07 May. 2024, 12:18 Updated: 07 May. 2024, 19:03

Amid rising violence, Korea's police officers receive safety gear makeover

Police officers patrol an adult entertainment street in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on April 30. [GYEONGGI NAMBU PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY]

Police announced Tuesday that new safety attire and equipment will be distributed to officers by next month to ensure the safety of officers exposed to dangers such as stabbings.

According to the National Police Agency, the number of police officers injured due to weapon attacks increased last year.

Of the 1,451 injured police officers last year, 336, or 23.2 percent, were wounded due to weapon attacks, which is 284 more cases compared to the previous year.

On April 19, an offender attacked police officers with a saw in Gwangju, leaving three of them injured.

The new police safety gear includes four types of stab-proof attire — a multi-purpose vest, a concealable stab-proof vest, a cut-proof jacket and a stab-proof neck guard — and a medium-sized shield.

The new equipment will be handed out to 17 police departments starting in June.

Images of the new stab-proof body armor. From left: a multi-purpose vest, a concealable stab-proof vest, a cut-proof jacket and a stab-proof neck guard. [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]

The existing bulletproof and stab-proof clothing and inner wearable stab-proof pads were criticized for being heavy and difficult to put on quickly.

Following such criticism, the new stab-proof clothing was improved both in activity and safety as their weights decreased by 30 percent, according to the agency.

The police agency said that the new multipurpose body armor can be worn daily, unlike the current vest, which is worn only when police officers are on outdoor duty.

The concealable stab-proof vest and neck guard can be quickly layered with the outdoor duty vest, and the cut-proof jacket can be worn as everyday clothes, it said.

Each piece of stab-proof body armor is also marked with a different color — red, yellow or green — based on its protection level, allowing officers to immediately determine what to wear according to the situation.

A QR code is additionally attached to the armor so that police officers can watch instruction videos whenever they want.

The new medium-sized shield [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]

The police agency said that the new medium-sized shield dramatically reduced the impact of hits by applying technology developed through the agency’s research project, which has been conducted since 2022.

The new type of shield was also made transparent to secure a clear view for officers and will be equipped at police patrol units and cars starting next month.

The improvement was made after officers suggested that the small-sized shields, which were made for local police officers, were not effective for defense.

They also pointed out that the original large-sized shields were too big to be loaded on patrol cars, as they were designed for mobile police use.

“The recent surge in abnormal motive crimes has increased the risk to the safety of on-scene police officers,” said Yoon Hee-keun, commissioner-general of the National Police Agency.

“Officers will be able to respond to crime more safely and proactively by utilizing the new safety equipment distributed starting this year.”

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]