Police Push for Stalking-Level Measures Against Domestic Abusers, Including Electronic Anklets

[Anchor]

With a rising number of stalking cases escalating into violent crimes, electronic anklets have been authorized for perpetrators even before final court rulings starting the year before last. Now, police have decided to push for a plan to attach electronic anklets to domestic violence offenders as well.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae has the details.

[Reporter]

In Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, a man in his 70s, identified as A, stabbed his estranged wife to death.

The wife had reported her husband to the police eight times since last April for domestic violence and other issues, and had even obtained a court-ordered restraining order.

The murder of a mother-in-law in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 11th, and the murder of a wife by a public official in front of their 5-year-old daughter in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, last month, were both crimes committed while the perpetrators were already under restraining orders following domestic violence charges.

As relation-based violent crimes stemming from domestic violence continue to occur successively, the police unveiled a plan to elevate measures against domestic violence offenders to the level applied to stalking crimes.

First, the requirements for applying "Temporary Measure No. 5," which detains offenders in detention centers or holding cells, will be eased. Furthermore, penalties for violating "emergency temporary measures" such as restraining orders or eviction orders will be raised from mere fines to prison sentences and criminal fines, matching the standards for stalking crimes.

A revision of the law is also under review to attach location-tracking electronic devices, commonly known as electronic anklets, to domestic violence perpetrators.

While stalking perpetrators can be ordered by a court to wear electronic devices, there has been no legal basis to do so for domestic violence offenders.

However, critics point out that beyond monitoring approaches to victims' homes or workplaces using electronic anklets, fundamental measures are needed to block perpetrators' access in other locations as well.

[Oh Yoon-sung / Professor of Police Administration, Soonchunhyang University: For example, when they come within a 100-meter radius of the victim, an alarm can automatically notify the relevant police station and the victim...]

Since both devices are equipped with location-tracking functions, methods such as measuring and monitoring the distance between the perpetrator's electronic anklet and the victim's smartwatch are being discussed.

However, because the management authorities are divided between the Ministry of Justice and the police, smooth information sharing and the integration of device management systems are pointed out as prerequisite tasks.

(Video Editing: So Ji-hye, Design: Cho Soo-in, Lee Jae-joon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.