E-Scan 38: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

E-SCAN 38: ON THE FRONTLINE

E-Scan 38: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

In central Seoul’s Jeo-dong Park, policing has taken on a new form after dark. Every two minutes between 7pm and 10pm, a life-sized holographic officer flickers to life on a transparent screen. “In case of an emergency, the police will be dispatched in real time. CCTV is installed here,” the figure announces before fading from view. Installed as part of the city’s Safe Park Programme, police credit the initiative with a 22 per cent reduction in crime, mainly impulsive or alcohol-related offences.

The holographic officer became an overnight media sensation, a sign that the future of policing had arrived. Yet its value lies less in its technical novelty than in what it reveals about how police are redesigning visibility for a smart-city age. With surveillance increasingly embedded in the urban landscape, the visibility of invisible systems has become strategic. The projection does not respond or intervene, but its presence is enough to prompt a brief moment of self-regulation, the pause on which deterrence often depends.

While visibility has long been central to preventative policing and community trust, its expression is being redefined. South Korea’s wider “K-Smart Policing” initiative has also trialled wearable robotic devices, AI-enabled drones and eco-mobility options, blending physical and digital modes to augment visibility and create “three-dimensional” patrol coverage.

Elsewhere, projection has taken a different direction. In Amsterdam, Dutch police displayed a hologram of Betty Szabó, a nineteen-year-old whose 2009 murder remains unsolved, in the city’s red-light district to encourage witnesses to come forward. The medium is the same; the intent quite different. In Seoul, projection asserts authority; in Amsterdam, it seeks empathy. 

For Australia and New Zealand, Seoul’s experiment raises practical questions about the future of visible policing. Projected presence could reinforce patrols in transport hubs, entertainment precincts or remote areas where officers cannot always be on scene. In resource-constrained jurisdictions, such tools may extend deterrence and strengthen public safety while allowing sworn members to focus on urgent duties. As the technology matures, similar projection systems could one day support frontline engagement, with AI-enabled avatars capable of providing information, taking minor reports, or guiding vulnerable individuals toward support services.

However, the promise of projection lies in extending presence, not replacing it. The real test is whether such tools strengthen trust as much as deterrence. Visibility alone does not guarantee legitimacy. In an era where confidence in institutions is eroding, public trust will depend less on how convincingly technology can simulate a police presence and more on whether citizens feel that a real, accountable person stands behind the projection.

The legitimacy of policing has always rested on human relationships: on presence that reassures, not just presence that watches. As police experiment with new forms of projection and AI, the future of policing may well be illuminated by holograms, but its credibility will still depend on the people standing behind the light.

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