Japan Police to Promote Structural Reform

Tokyo, April 2 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s National Police Agency on Thursday issued structural reform guidelines that call for sharing equipment and personnel across prefectural police departments and for flexibly reviewing the division of roles between police headquarters and stations. The guidelines present a course for reform to address the challenges of maintaining public safety in light of the increasing specialization and international nature of crimes such as special fraud and cybercrime, as well as maintaining police forces due to population decline. “(Structural reform) is unavoidable in order for the police to continue being an organization capable of dealing with security issues in the future,” NPA Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki said at a press conference. “Using the guidelines as a prescription, the NPA and prefectural police will cooperate closely and work steadily on each issue.” Measures for cross-prefectural collaboration include the joint operation of helicopters by multiple police headquarters to avoid suspensions for inspections and maintenance. The NPA also aims to promote the consolidation of advanced forensic equipment and expert personnel at large-scale forensic laboratories, which will conduct evaluations at the request of nearby prefectural police. Police departments are also expected to conduct joint training at police academies and optimize the distribution of personnel and equipment, such as drones and specialized investigative units. On the division of roles between police headquarters and stations, the guidelines call for having headquarters handle all incidents requiring high expertise. The NPA offered examples such as having police stations that handle few cases specialize in initial response, with headquarters dealing with the later phases of case management, as well as having headquarters oversee all licensing and permitting services and autopsies. The guidelines also include proposals for joint night shift operations among nearby stations, as well as a review of police boxes and substations. The NPA also aims to promote the use of artificial intelligence and other technology to improve efficiency and reduce workloads, and to streamline operations related to lost items and missing elderly people by working with other relevant organizations. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]