▲ The red campus police motorcycle. Photographed by Choi Jiyoung

Constant crimes such as physical and sexual abuse, robbery, and bullying occur even within the school boundaries, no longer making school campus a safe place to be. However, under the security of the “campus police,” a term used for the General Affairs Department’s rescue crew, Korea University (KU) is in a safety zone.

Although most KU students would have at least once heard the term “campus police” or have spotted policemen patrolling in a police car around the school campus, students might not be sure who they really are. “I often spot police cars parked in front of the Communications Building but never got the chance to see who was actually in them. I only recently got to know about the existence of the campus police who I assumed to be just simple town police officers,” said Yang Hyun Jun (’12, Foreign Languages and Literature). Similarly, some students do not even know whether the campus police are affiliated with the school or not and are also not aware of the services the officers provide for us.

To trace back the history, the emergence of campus police started from the 1960s in the United States. During this period, chaos was found across the nation, leading to student protests and civil rights movements. However, since the campus security was not effective enough to prevent such riots, both the students and officers faced extreme injury, calling for an urgent need for intensified campus security. As a result, universities hired campus police officers who were to meet higher training and educational standards, particularly dealing with campus-specific issues.

Thus, the campus police can be defined as police officers employed by a university to provide a safe and secure environment for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors on the campus. Realizing such a need for greater security on campus, KU also adopted this system in June 2009, following the precedents of foreign universities. “We decided to adopt the campus police system in order to provide a quicker response to incidents on campus and to offer campus-specific services not available from local police organizations,” said Chun Chang Hee, the chief manager of the General Affairs Department.

KU’s campus police actually work for a private enterprise, Samsung Security No.1. According to Chun, our school pays a fee to Samsung Security No.1, which itself manages the payment of the campus police. Currently, KU employs 19 police officers providing security 24 hours a day. The officers work in 12 hour shifts in a three-group rotation and are unable to take days off either on weekends or on holidays. Specifically, one shift goes from 8 A.M. until 7 P.M. and the other (the night shift) starts at 7 P.M. and ends at 8 A.M. the next morning.

The officers live in a whirl of activity as they are occupied with most of the major security issues within the campus as following: they remove unauthorized intruders such as homeless people, vagrants, and the mentally ill; direct emergency vehicles in urgent situations; regulate drinking or sleeping on campus; and patrol around the campus. The individual responsibilities held by the officers totals 15, which is why the officers are indeed indispensable for KU students and faculty.

It is not very difficult to spot the campus police since they can be found at all times at their office located at both the Main Campus and the Science Campus in case of emergency situations. On the Main Campus, they stay at the Communications Building and the College of Law Annex, and in the Science Campus, they remain at the Innovation Hall and the College of Engineering #2. It is easy to get in contact with them for students can simply dial 02-3290-1919 and explain their emergency situations.

▲ The officer is getting ready to patrol around the campus. Photographed by Choi Jiyoung

Kim Jun Sik, a campus police officer, recalled his most memorable incident as the time he caught a thief who stole student’s property. It was in 2009 when a student reported to the campus police that her laptop had been stolen. She was panicking, so Kim first did his best to calm her down and went to search for the laptop. After he spent all day checking each and every CCTV camera on campus, he eventually caught the criminal. “When I called up the student to inform her that I had found her laptop, she screamed out in happiness and kept saying that I was her savior. Just by hearing those words, I was able to realize that my job was quite rewarding and worthwhile,” said Kim. Completing his job successfully, Kim was able to realize that he is truly contributing a service that students need on the campus. Students also seemed to agree with this notion, as Bae Hyun Ji (’10, Psychology) said, “I feel so reassured by the thought that the campus police are always by our side ready to solve our issues.”

In order for the campus police to provide their high-quality service for the school, they have actually committed much time and effort that we might not be fully aware of. According to the head chief of the campus police, the officers are required to attend a service training session to learn how to specifically deal with campus crimes. “By principle, the officers have to take four hours of mandatory service sessions once a month at the Woo Dang Hall. However, at times, officers take additional hours of service education, depending on particular situations.”

Even at this time of the year, enduring the severe cold, the campus police are fulfilling their duties day and night in order to guarantee our security and convenience. It seems that it is time we take notice of their sincere help.