Gaps in Victim Protection: One in Five Smartwatches Were Off for More Than a Day

20% of Smartwatches Found Switched Off for More Than a Day
Police Had Neglected to Track Statistics, Began Preparing Countermeasures After Violent Crime
"Focus Should Be on Controlling Perpetrators, Not Smartwatches"

One in five of the smartwatches issued by police to protect crime victims was left powered off for more than a day. Despite having a dedicated application that enables real-time monitoring, police had not even been tracking related statistics. Only after a serious crime occurred while a victim's smartwatch was out of battery did they belatedly begin drawing up countermeasures.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Kim Young-bae, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, police checked with the smartwatch service provider and found that about 700 of the roughly 3,600 smartwatches issued to victims—approximately 20%—had been powered off for 24 hours or longer at some point. Police said they believe the devices were turned off because of insufficient charge or because users had switched them off themselves.

The smartwatches issued by police are personal safety devices that automatically call 112 and transmit the user's real-time location when a victim presses the emergency button. They are initially provided for one month, and the period of use is extended if police determine that the risk persists. However, the device cannot be used when it is powered off. In fact, during the murder of a mother-in-law and kidnapping of a wife in Seoul's Songpa District on October 11, the victim's issued smartwatch was out of battery and turned off, so it could not be used to make an emergency call.

The number of smartwatches issued has been rising every year. The number increased from 14,208 in 2022 to 21,974 last year, and reached 19,223 through September this year. In particular, as of last month, 242 had been issued to victims of serious crimes such as murder, nearly 1.8 times the 134 issued over the whole of last year. A total of 11,213 were issued in stalking and domestic violence cases, accounting for 58.3% of all devices issued.

However, the devices have a low activation rate in emergencies. According to data the office of Lee Sang-sik, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the Public Administration and Security Committee, obtained from the National Police Agency, emergency calls through smartwatches were activated in only nine (33.3%) of the 27 murder and attempted murder cases involving people who had been issued smartwatches between 2022 and September this year. In the remaining 18 cases (66.7%), no report was made using a smartwatch, even though the victims had been issued one.

Kim Seongwoo, the suspect in the murder of his mother-in-law and kidnapping of his wife, is being transferred from Songpa Police Station in Seoul to the prosecutors' office on the 20th. Yonhap News

Police said that, following the Songpa case, they would incorporate electronic checks into their victim protection manual. Officers assigned to victim protection will check whether the devices are working and whether they have been powered off for a certain period. A police official said, "We plan to develop a program that automatically sends an alert to the victim's phone if the device has not been worn or has been turned off for an extended period."

Experts said these measures are unlikely to have any practical effect and called for a shift away from a smartwatch-centered policy that places the burden of protection on victims toward a system that directly controls and monitors perpetrators. Oh Yoon-sung, a professor of police administration at Soonchunhyang University, said, "The police saying they will periodically check whether victims are using their devices is nothing more than a performative attempt to evade responsibility." He added, "In most cases of crimes involving people who know each other, the perpetrator is identified. Legal and technological improvements are needed to strengthen control over perpetrators, such as temporarily requiring high-risk offenders to wear electronic ankle monitors and ensuring that the monitoring center and victims are immediately alerted if an offender approaches within a certain distance."

Lim Jun-tae, a professor of police administration at Dongguk University, said, "Improving the devices' battery performance and ease of use is the bare minimum; the focus itself needs to shift to perpetrators." He added, "The fundamental solution is to build a more comprehensive system of legal monitoring and restrictions for people who pose a risk."

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