<Anchor>
Our reporters obtained a document containing the police manpower management plan on the day of the disaster.
It was confirmed that there were 81 mobile units for safety management and order maintenance in downtown Seoul, but not one unit was deployed in Itaewon.
Correspondent Han Seong-hee.
<Reporter>
Citizens at the scene say they could not see a police officer to control the crowded situation.
[Nam In-seok / Merchant: It would have been nice if there were only two police officers in front, but I think it's a pity.
(There were no police at all?) None.
(Is there no control at all?) Yes.]
If you look at the video taken on Halloween last year in the alley where the accident occurred, police officers are closely arranged at intervals of 2 or 3 meters.
It was a part of quarantine measures amid the corona epidemic, but the effect of preventing crowds was clear.
But this year, it was difficult to find something like this.
This is the career plan of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the day of the accident, that is, the operation plan of the police personnel obtained by the reporters.
A total of 81 task force units were divided and used for rallies, demonstrations, and security of base facilities, and 70 units were deployed to 21 cases of rallies and demonstrations.
About 20 units were also assigned to work at bases and to guard foreign missions.
Since each battalion consisted of about 60 people, at least 4,800 people were mobilized.
However, nowhere in the operation plan is the name of the region 'Itaewon' or the word Halloween event.
A large number of task forces were deployed at the meetings of the two major trade unions, where 25,000 people gathered, but not even a single unit was assigned to Halloween, where at least 130,000 people gathered.
Last year, 85 front-line police officers and up to three riot squads were deployed.
The police officers who came to the scene were not personnel who specialized in safety management or order maintenance, but employees who were in charge of investigations, traffic, and female youth.
The National Police Agency explained that more police force was put in based on the number of police officers.
[Oh Seung-jin / Chief of Violent Crimes Investigation Division, National Police Agency (Yesterday): This Halloween festival was expected to gather a large number of people in Itaewon, so we prepared more police force than usual...
.]
It is pointed out that the failure to deploy the task force despite the expectation that more than 100,000 Halloween crowds will gather is a violation of safety measures.