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As crime dries up, Japan’s police hunt for things to do
The Econimist ^ | 5/18/2017

Posted on 05/24/2017 3:33:00 PM PDT by Altura Ct.

There was just one fatal shooting in the whole of 2015

THE stake-out lasted a week, but it paid off in the end. The tireless police of Kagoshima, a sleepy city in the far south of the country, watched the unlocked car day and night. It was parked outside a supermarket, and contained a case of malt beer. Finally, a passing middle-aged man decided to help himself. Five policemen instantly pounced, nabbing one of the city’s few remaining law-breakers.

Japan’s cluttered streets are not always pretty but they are remarkably safe. Crime rates have been falling for 13 years. The murder rate of 0.3 per 100,000 people is among the lowest in the world; in America it is almost 4 (see chart). A single gun slaying was recorded for the whole of 2015. Even yakuza gangsters, once a potent criminal force, have been weakened by tougher laws and old age.

Yet, far from being pensioned off, the police are growing in numbers: beat cops, known colloquially as omawari-san (Mr Walk-around), are a fixture in most neighbourhoods. Japan has over 259,000 uniformed officers—15,000 more than a decade ago, when crime rates were far higher. The ratio of officers to population is very high, especially in Tokyo, home to the world’s biggest metropolitan police force—a quarter bigger than the one protecting New York.

This means plenty of attention for crimes that would be considered too petty to investigate elsewhere, such as the theft of a bicycle or the possession of a tiny amount of drugs. One woman describes how five officers crowded into her cramped apartment after she reported her knickers being swiped from a clothesline. A small army of detectives was assigned last year to apprehend a group of 22 people who had been growing marijuana for their personal use only and smoking it in deserted rural spots.

In fact, as the police run out of things to do, they are becoming more inventive about what constitutes a crime, says Kanako Takayama of Kyoto University. In one recent case, she says, they arrested a group of people who had shared the cost of renting a car, deeming the arrangement an illegal taxi. Some prefectures have begun prosecuting people who ride their bicycles through red lights.

In 2015 a man was arrested for scribbling Adolf Hitler moustaches onto posters of Shinzo Abe, the prime minister. Ms Takayama says detectives have started appearing without permission on university campuses, to monitor “troublesome” students. One reason why police are going after cyclists may be to make up for the steady fall in driving offences. (Both drivers and cyclists can avoid fines by signing up for remedial training at certified driving schools, which are often staffed by retired officers, notes Colin Jones of Doshisha University.) Fifteen years ago police in Hokkaido, in Japan’s sparsely populated north, conspired with yakuza gangsters to smuggle guns into the country so they could meet quotas for finding them.

The hunt for things to do may sometimes be beneficial. The number of reported cases of children being abused at home has almost doubled since 2010, despite the declining birth rate. That suggests the police are increasingly intervening in the domestic sphere, which they used to avoid.

Even critics of Japan’s justice system accept that it gets a lot right. Rates of recidivism are low and a great deal of effort is made to keep young offenders out of the prison system; police work with parents to keep young people on the straight and narrow. Adults are incarcerated at a far lower rate than in most rich countries: 45 per 100,000, compared with 146 in Britain and 666 in the United States.

Yet the police are oddly inefficient. Even though there are so many officers and so few crimes, they solve less than 30% of them. Confessions, often made under duress, form the basis of most criminal prosecutions. The courts dismissed the case of the beer thief in Kagoshima, despite all the work that went into it. Japan is almost crime-free not thanks to the police, says Yoshihiro Yasuda, a campaigning lawyer, but because people police themselves.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Japan
KEYWORDS: crime; diversity; japan; police
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They obviously need more immigration and diversity.
1 posted on 05/24/2017 3:33:00 PM PDT by Altura Ct.
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To: Altura Ct.

Shhh. Don’t let Soros know about this.


2 posted on 05/24/2017 3:34:10 PM PDT by Slyfox (Where's Reagan when we need him? Look in the mirror - the spirit of The Gipper lives within you.)
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To: Altura Ct.

C’mon Japan . . . make reparations for you being an island nation, starting WW II, slaughtering millions, stealing American jobs

Import the Allies’ Third World Immigrants

We’ll call it even


3 posted on 05/24/2017 3:36:14 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat ("Liberalism is a mental disorder" On FULL Display NOW! BOYCOTT Mexico nba NFL PepsiCO Kellogg's)
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To: Altura Ct.

In one recent case, she says, they arrested a group of people who had shared the cost of renting a car, deeming the arrangement an illegal taxi. Some prefectures have begun prosecuting people who ride their bicycles through red lights...

fiends!!!!


4 posted on 05/24/2017 3:37:50 PM PDT by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust Conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Altura Ct.

They obviously need more laws.


5 posted on 05/24/2017 3:41:19 PM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
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To: unixfox

What they don’t need are any third world migrants. Japan is smart for saying no.


6 posted on 05/24/2017 3:44:44 PM PDT by Vic S
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To: Altura Ct.

They need to come to the US. There is plenty to do here, trying to find and catch criminals.


7 posted on 05/24/2017 3:44:52 PM PDT by Innovative ("Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." -- Vince Lombardi)
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To: Altura Ct.

Can’t stand the Japanese police . Useless for the most part . They spend 90% of the time in their kobans or stations and not , for example , on the streets and highways monitoring motorists and bikers who speed , run stop signs , etc. with abandon . I’d say 90% of cars don’t stop at the stop sign at the corner just down the street from our house , and 50% of the cars drive over the speed limit . It’s a residential area with many kids . WE told the police about the situation weeks ago but they are nowhere to be seen . Japanese police are good at showing up AFTER something happens , though - they come out of the woodwork . Otherwise , more or less invisible .


8 posted on 05/24/2017 3:45:17 PM PDT by sushiman
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To: sushiman

An orderly society. Homogeniety helps.


9 posted on 05/24/2017 3:48:42 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET (urope. Why do they put up with this.)
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To: Altura Ct.

They can come to NJ and police the 3rd world hell that is my PATH ride each morning.


10 posted on 05/24/2017 3:51:04 PM PDT by usafa92 (Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States)
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To: Altura Ct.

Just came back from Japan. They have very few immigrants. Most are not allowed to stay. They also leave their stuff, bikes, shoes and things on their front stoop, unlocked. Anyone walking down the street could steal all sorts of valuable stuff. But it never happens in Japan. If you leave Tokyo and go out to the little towns its great. There is no crime at all. Sweden and Germany were like this. But no more. Crime is not about having money or not having money. Its about the people. Will they steal? Bernie Madoff was rich but still stole. Some people never steal. Others do. Its the people.


11 posted on 05/24/2017 3:52:38 PM PDT by poinq
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To: Altura Ct.

The author seems baffled that increasing police leads to less crime.


12 posted on 05/24/2017 3:54:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Altura Ct.

There are more adult diapers sold in Japan than infant diapers....that tells you something.


13 posted on 05/24/2017 3:54:32 PM PDT by blam
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To: Altura Ct.

Since Japan mostly polices ITSELF it is Valhalla for policeman:

Once I had to ride my motorcycle right after showering, my hair was pretty long and so for the first part I decided to fudge a bit by not wearning my helmet.

The FIRST driver to appear behind me repeatedly HONKED at me, scolding.

You can be at 3 am at a Tokyo intersection, DEVOID of people and cars and pedestrians will STILL wait for the signal to cross.

And there are VERY many rules which are not on the books but which people still follow.

Two huge exceptions:

1. Nicking an umbrella stowed in the racks at the front of stores by fellow shoppers

2. “Borrowing” a junky bike left (in violation) near the train station


14 posted on 05/24/2017 3:56:26 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: Altura Ct.

Uh oh. You know the old saying about idle hands...


15 posted on 05/24/2017 3:56:44 PM PDT by cld51860 (Volo pro veritas)
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To: Altura Ct.

The Scottish island my Mother’s ancestors came from had never had a serious crime reported until recently. It turned out to be a laborer from the mainland.

He stole around a hundred dollars from a cabin.

Diversity is not always a good thing.


16 posted on 05/24/2017 3:58:00 PM PDT by yarddog (Romans 8:38-39, For I am persuaded.)
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To: Altura Ct.


Well, now is a perfect time for Krankor to attack, then!
17 posted on 05/24/2017 3:59:24 PM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: Altura Ct.
"Even yakuza gangsters, once a potent criminal force, have been weakened by tougher laws and old age."

The Economist knows nothing of the Yakuza. These guys run most of the vice in Japan, and quietly enforce law because theft, etc. on their turf deters clients and costs them profits.

18 posted on 05/24/2017 4:00:07 PM PDT by Smedley (It's a sad day for American capitalism when a man can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park)
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To: poinq

Exactly correct..!

And here’s the super weird thing —Japan isn’t really LAW abiding, per se.

Yes, the laws end up obeyed, sure, but that is NOT it.

It’s a tribe, mostly, they have a keen sense of being Japanese. They don’t have lots of people who just blew in from out of town and somehow get the passport (I see this all over the place in California). It’s a shame culture, not a guilt culture, mostly not riddled with arcane laws, and the idea of outing one’s self as a thief is so frightening that most people just won’t do it.

It’s NOT actually the law, it’s a very strong sense Shame Conventions that *could* be undone if you brought in enough scum-sucking, crotch-grabbing modernity-haters.


19 posted on 05/24/2017 4:01:40 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: Altura Ct.

Old people don’t commit as many crimes.

They need to import more Muslims and and third worlders to commit the crimes that Japanese people will no longer commit.


20 posted on 05/24/2017 4:03:37 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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