Japanese Police Cries for Help
Sunday, October 3, 2004 Posted: 02:40 PM JST
The Japanese police can't ensure public safety alone anymore according to a 2004 white paper released Friday reports the Japan Times. According to the white paper, the police wants more public participation.
Surveys show that both police and the public are dissatisfied with current conditions. Of 1,900 police officers with more than 10 years of experience and assigned to police boxes 94.9 percent believe they can't do the job by themselves. They insist that the public becomes involved in self-protection through measures like resident patrols.
Some 30 percent of the officers complained about inadequate cooperation between police officers and residents because they are understaffed. Recently a national survey of 2,100 adults found that 64.5 percent want police boxes to be staffed more often while 62.3 percent want police to increase patrols. Both are only possible if the number of police officers are increased.
In response the agency is trying to bolster the functions of "koban" police boxes and to support crime-prevention activities among the public. The Police Agency also plans to hire more officers and to place retired officers at koban to help the public.
Keywords: national_news security crime
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