PNU crime prevention system, including emergency bell, security pole, and CCTV, is shown to have a large vacuum, and it is urgent to prepare countermeasures. 

On April 5th, the first “Living Lab for policing” in the country reported that the level of crime prevention system inside and outside of the Busan campus is not high. Based on the result, Channel PNU inspected the security system and covered the students’ level of awareness about the issue. First, from April 15th to May 2nd, Channel PNU surveyed 305 students at the Busan campus online on “how students think on the level of public safety.” 300 students (104 male, 196 female) responded to nine items consisting of selective multiple choice answers.

■ Questions about the effectiveness of “emergency bells” in toilets.

Even though students ranked toilets as the second most dangerous place on campus (11.5%), many (47.8%) said that the emergency bells in the toilets would help in case of a threat of crime or an urgent situation. 

Unlike these expectations, however, the emergency bells were found to be almost useless. From April 29th to May 3rd, Channel PNU conducted random inspections on the toilets’ emergency bells of five colleges (Moonchang Hall, College of Humanities, School of Business, College of Social Sciences, College of Economics and International Trade). As a result, security guards showed up on the scene in three places, and this is even after the golden time, which is five minutes. As soon as someone presses the emergency bell, it is the principle to be connected to “S1,” the security company of the University Administration, and for the security personnel to arrive at the scene. Nonetheless, this did not happen.

Above all, there was no way to find out whether the PNU emergency bells work correctly or not. In other universities, such as Seoul National University and Seoul National University of Science and Technology, when the emergency bells are pressed, an alarm rings to let people around the scene know, until a person in charge can arrive at the spot. On the other hand, our university can only see if it normally works if help arrives. 

The lack of human resources is also a problem. Even though the emergency bells work well and it connects to University Administration’s S1, it is useless without the workforce to respond to the action. University Administration’s S1 has five people in total (as of May 2nd), and this includes two in the daytime and three in the nighttime. Considering that the area of the Busan Campus is about 650,000m2, it is absurdly insufficient. 

The current status of the emergency bell was different from what the University Administration had said. The PNU Administration said that there is an emergency bell per bathroom stall and a common emergency bell in the women’s and men’s toilets, but there were no emergency bells in the men’s toilets in Moonchang Hall and the College of Social Science building.

■80% of students do not know “how to use security poles.”

The awareness of the security pole, which is installed everywhere around the campus, was shallow. The security pole is a way for the security companies to dispatch help when someone presses the button in an emergency. Since 2015, our university has installed security poles every year, increasing from 10 to 31 in 2022. At that time, our newspaper raised the problem (in the PNU newspaper of May 5th, 2014) that students were unaware of its existence or how to use them. Seven years later, in the question of “how often do you see the security pole,” 61% of the students answered that “they do not see the security pole often,” and 83.3% said “no” to “do you know how to use the security pole.”

Students pointed out the necessity of strengthening the awareness of the security poles and publicize on how to use them. Yoon Jae-Myung (17, French Language & Literature) said, “strengthening the awareness is a priority because we do not know the security pole itself.” Jung Su-Hyang (20, Language and Information) said, “We need education on using these safety devices.”

■ Active visit of outsiders, but passive crime prevention.  

As Busan Campus is under the Geumjeong Mountain and is used as a hiking trail for regular citizens, entering of the campus by outsiders is frequent. The problem is that outsiders not only go around the campus, but also enter the buildings. Crime incidents in 2018 and 2019 when outsiders entered the dormitory are the representative cases.

The security system should be systematic considering these locational characteristics, but the reality is not. After a few inquiries made to the University Administration, the total number of CCTVs installed at our university is 2,060. Still, it was difficult for students to know how many CCTVs are installed in which building. In addition, CCTV replacement cycles are unclear, making them difficult to understand. On the other hand, other universities such as Cheongju University, Hoseo University, and Kangwon National University check into the present situation on CCTV installation of the whole campus, and also per college, every year and announce the results. 

Students (73.8%) ranked “Geumjeong Mountain Doghole” as the most vulnerable place on campus and suggested that the expansion of streetlights is needed. Yu Sang-Ah (20, English Language Education) said, “The road leading to the dormitory, including the second Education Building, Jilli Hall, and Woongbee Hall, located at the top of the Busan Campus, are still dark, and the distance between streetlights are intensely large.” Lee Jae-Ho (false name) said, “The street from the students’ hall to the dormitory is a remote area and darker than we think. It is necessary to foster the road to a brighter atmosphere.”

The officials of the University Administration’s general affairs department said, “It is true that we are experiencing a shortage of workforce, operation system, and devices. We realize the necessity to inspect the toilets’ emergency bell this time, and we are planning to gradually supplement it. We perceive our (safety) education as insufficient, and we do have a plan, but we are still cautious because there is not enough quantity due to the large size of our campus, and the concerns about its efficiency. 

Editor-in-Chief, Lee Chae-Hyeon

Translated by Lee Su-Hyun