The Japanese Police Thread

[allblacks]

Takayuki Kaneko, 25, is accused of punching the 21-year-old university student in the stomach and groping her on the street near his house in Yokohama’s Aoba Ward on Thursday morning.

“I was trying to hit on her but she avoided me, and I got angry.”

What finesse. Numb-nuts got past the police academy's background check, psychological profile, and emotional IQ test (please tell me the cops use those in the hiring process) and was on the force. I read too many of these nut job-cum-cop stories; we should all worry.

Just an apology? Did they fire his worthless ass?

[exUsagiCoalMiner]

the police academy's background check, psychological profile, and emotional IQ test

Best laugh I've had in a while! Cheers!

[steki47]

Another genius!

Police sergeant arrested for urinating from JR platform

Tuesday 15th December, 08:45 AM JST

TOKYO —

A police sergeant was arrested Monday on a charge of public indecency after he was caught urinating on the platform at JR Minami-Senju station in Tokyo. According to police, the officer, who is in his 50s, was caught peeing on a pole on the station’s platform at about 10 p.m. on Sunday night. He was on his way home from a night out drinking with his dorm mates.

The sergeant told investigators had felt the urge to urinate at the station before, Mikawashima, and got off at Minami-Senju to “relieve himself.”

“I had planned to go to the restroom but just couldn’t hold it,” he was quoted as saying.

Commuters saw the man do the deed and alerted station officials.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crim ... r-platform

[In The Know]

Another genius!

Police sergeant arrested for urinating from JR platform

That is unusual. Every JR (and other train line) station I've ever been to has always had toilets. I guess the JR employees at this particular station just have to hold it for the 8-10 hour shift.

[Shimano]

On the way to work today, I was going past a police station with a copper actually standing outside it.

The police station is right next to some traffic lights.

Lights were red.

Dodgy driver comes bombing round the corner, and nearly hits two elementary school kids crossing.

Policeman does nothing.

[allblacks]

On the way to work today, I was going past a police station with a copper actually standing outside it.

The police station is right next to some traffic lights.

Lights were red.

Dodgy driver comes bombing round the corner, and nearly hits two elementary school kids crossing.

Policeman does nothing.

Exact same thing with me and a crossing near my closest station. Cop was standing at the crossing. Did nothing at all. Useless cunts they are.

[Are they the lemmings?]

Yes, but sometimes they have to put up with crap like this...

The Yomiuri Shimbun's Wakayama bureau is running an article about inappropriate 110 calls.

Some of the calls included:

• "There's a man sitting on the side of the road sharpening a knife". (He was one of those itinerant, door-to-door knife sharpeners*.)
• (In the middle of the night) "I've just woken up and discovered my husband is missing. Last I saw, he was sleeping next to me". (He was asleep in another room.)
• "I was bound with tape and confined in a darkened room". (It turned out to be a dream.)
• "My car was stolen while I was in the supermarket". (The caller had come to the supermarket by bicycle.)
• "The toilet at this establishment is disgusting! Do something, please". (The operator suggested the caller try telling the shop management.)
• "Bring me some beer. I'll pay you later". (The operator suggested the caller go buy it himself.)

*I would gladly pay 2,000 yen to see a show by a band called the Itinerant Knife Sharpeners.

[InTheColdLightOfDay]

Japan Today ran a similar piece, including...

“Hello, police? I hurt my foot and can’t move. Could you bring me a medicated bandage from the drug store?”

“Hello, police? Please come, hurry! There’s a cockroach in the house!”

“Police? Help! I can’t get a taxi and I need to get home!”

“There’s a big dog in the park. Help!”

“My girlfriend left me. What do I do now?”

Or this from a small restaurant owner: “There’s a guy here who won’t order anything but sake. Would you mind coming by and throwing him out?”

http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuch ... -110-calls

[Mogura]

Good thing this cop wasn't canned for his indiscretion. It would have been a tremendous loss to the police force and public at large...

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crim ... m-gangster

Police capt in organized crime unit warned for accepting fridge from gangster
Wednesday 03rd March, 09:03 AM JST

KANAGAWA —
A 59-year-old captain in Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s Organized Crime Control Division received a verbal warning in 2007 for accepting a refrigerator from a top member of an organized crime group, it was learned on Tuesday.

The captain was a key figure in the investigation of a former member of the Yamaguchi-gumi crime group who shot an officer that was attempting to search a house in Yokohama City in September 2007.

A task force was set up and the captain mentioned to an acquaintance that their office in Kanagawa Police Station didn’t have a refrigerator, and one was supplied by a member of the Inagawakai crime group. Officers used the refrigerator and the supplier came to light when the investigation finished and the refrigerator was to be returned.

The captain was also cautioned for sexual harassment in 2007, and is currently under investigation for attending a gym during work hours.

[genieZero]

This happened today 29/03/2010

I was stopped by 5 police officers as I was smoking outside a ramen shop. An older police officer asked me if I had eaten ramen, I simply ignored him and gave him a blank stare. A female officer then requested that I show my passport. I gave her my gaijin card, and she read out that I was from England. The older officer tugged my bag and wanted to search it. I did not like being surrounded by police, and asked him if he had a search warrant in Japanese.

This stunned him and he replied by asking how I knew such a word. I did not move and he tried too reach for my bag. I told him again that he needed a search warrant. The officer then went behind me and pulled off my bag, and started to empty it's contents. They found some incense that I had purchased and rolling papers.

This is when the real problems started. I was taken to the small koban and they removed my jacket, hoody and also tried to take off my t-shirt (in public view). I stopped them from taking off my t-shirt. They took me to a room inside the koban and had me remove my belt, which the same old officer would not let me have back. I then was told to sit as they went through my belongings. He accused me of taking drugs, I said that I had done no such thing! A female officer (Nakajima Yuka) then told me to remove my shoes and socks, which I did.

After, they drove me to the big police station in Shibuya for interrogation and drug testing. A small detective dressed in black sat me down and tested the incense. Surely enough, it came out as negative. They then asked why I was carrying rolling papers, I said I like to smoke roll up cigarettes if I run out of tobacco at home. They then made me sign (fingerprint) numerous forms giving them permission to take the incense and also a urine test. The forms were voluntary, so I asked them what would happen if I refused to give my urine sample. Another detective (sorry for not taking names, there were 8 police officers in the room at the time) told me I would be taken to the hospital where a very painful procedure would be performed to take the urine by force.

I gave the sample, as I had finished, they brought in an officer who was bald (as am I) and said 'He is your brother!'. I did not find it amusing, I really wanted to get the hell out of there.

They performed the test in front of me and it came out negative (surprise surprise!). The whole ordeal took around 3 hours, and I pushed them to give me a lift to where I was going which they did.

[behan]

This happened today 29/03/2010
. . .

Holy sh*t, Genie. That's awful. I know a lot of people won't agree with my assessment, but I think it's racially motivated police harassment. There should be some way of reporting police harassment. I wonder if there is the equivalent of Internal Affairs in Japan.

[exUsagiCoalMiner]

This happened today 29/03/2010
. . .

Holy sh*t, Genie. That's awful. I know a lot of people won't agree with my assessment, but I think it's racially motivated police harassment. There should be some way of reporting police harassment. I wonder if there is the equivalent of Internal Affairs in Japan.

There is, but do you honestly think they'd give a shit?

[steki47]

That is quite horrible. I would report it to somebody. Maybe contact a few people or the media. Debito comes to mind.

[allblacks]

So who is going to represent you? If I were you I would be hiring a lawyer and making a huge stink over that.

[wilde_oscar]

Have you contacted the closest Embassy/Consulate of wherever you're a citizen of?

[genieZero]

Thanks for the support guys!

It was shock to me to say the least, I never had 5 police officers surround me...ever. It was the older policemen who were really nasty towards me and bullish. They treated me like a criminal, and hated the fact that I knew they needed a search warrant (I got that from the JT article debito wrote). I emailed Debito about it, and I also went to see Louis Carlet, he help me write out exactly what happened and translated into Japanese, then sent it to Amnesty International.

I was thinking about contacting the British Consulate, but they would not be of any use, what will they? Tell the police to be nice?!

The worst part I have to say was the initial stop... I never expected them to pull my bag and off and take everything out. Then the big shot detective sitting in front of me with his drug testing kit, and more police piling into the tiny ass interrogation room to see if the gaijin will go to prison... He actually said it maybe 'cocaine or heroin' after it turned out negative! I started laughing which made him bark at me in Japanese.

Same with the urine test, maybe 8 or 9 police officers all stood inside as they waited for the result, it came out negative.

The one thing I did regret was signing the papers. I always promised myself not to do so, but the way they did it was 'do this or you will not leave this police station'. They did not stop boasting about Sakae Noriko being brought in, and how she paid 5,000,000 yen bail. Poor woman must have been so relieved to get out.

At the end there was no apology of any sort, they said I should not buy incense that is not well known! The big shots went back to their PCs and laughed amongst themselves. I really wanted to get ahold of the pigs that searched me in the first place, they were absolutely racist in the way they treated me, and quite proud of the fact too.

[wilde_oscar]

I would suggest a complaint to the British consulate is worthwhile in that these selfsame police officers will have to deal with a complaint not just from a foreign embassy but also from their own MOFA. That is the sort of thing that gets attention and can severely limit careers.

As you've already got the deatails of the incident in writing why not forward it to people who are (supposed) to be there to look after your interests?

[genieZero]

I'll give them a call now, but I am not getting my hopes up!

[genieZero]

I'll called the British Embassy, they gave me an email address to send them an email documenting what happened, but also said that they cannot get involved in any legal matters, but can refer me to a lawyer. Let's hope something comes of it. I really hope they don't do what they did to me to anyone else, japanese or non-japanese alike.

[Shawn]

Damn, gZ, that's fucked up. Could I persuade you into putting this on the blog so more eyes can see it?

[General Ripper]

How does one forcibly take a urine sample? couldn't imagine four coppers holding you down while a doctor inserted a catheter. Probably against the hippocratic oath for a doctor to particapte in that kind of bullshit. In any case they were probably correct when they said a very painful procedure. What time of the day did this happen?

[Mogura]

Some questions for those in the know:

How do you say, "Do you have a search warrant?" in Japanese?

Do police in Japan need search warrants to search your home, personal effects or containers (suitcase, bag, car trunks, etc.)?

[genieZero]

The search warrant is 'Reijio ga ari masu ka?' and i got it from a blog Debito wrote last year. As far as putting this on the blog Shawn, I would be more than happy to submit it for that.

And it happened at 11:40 am in Shibuya, which is what surprised me the most! If I was there at night then I can imagine the police finding more grounds for a search as that's when most crime occurs (at least in England).

And I don't know if it's worth asking them for a search warrant as it really pissed off one officer who thought it was ok to pull my bag off my back.

[Are they the lemmings?]

Just for reference: The things the police can and can't do when questioning you are set forth in Article 2 of the Act concerning Execution of Duties of Police Officials.

They can:

• Stop you and question you if:
  
  • You are acting strangely; or
  • There are reasonable grounds to suspect, based on logical judgement of the situation in the vicinity, that you have committed a crime or are about to commit a crime; or
  • You have knowledge of a crime that has been committed or that a crime is about to be committed.
• Ask you to accompany them to the local station to continue questioning you if questioning you where they stopped you puts you at a disadvantage or obstructs traffic.
• Search your person for weapons if you are under arrest.

They cannot:

• Detain you
• Take you to a police station or demand answers from you forcefully

...unless you are under arrest.

[Shawn]

As far as putting this on the blog Shawn, I would be more than happy to submit it for that.

Great! If you don't mind, could you combine the details you have from the posts and then PM me?

[Gizmo]

I would recommend contacting Debito. I believe the UN human right's commission is in Japan at the moment investigating racial descrimination (or was last weekend at any rate). Debito has/had a meeting with one of the representatives and police racial profiling is/was one of the issues was going to bring up.

I don't know the guy personally or anything, I'm just on some community list and get updates which I glance through. This happens to be directly relevant.

[Gizmo]

The same thing happened to me in Shinjuku a several years back. 5 cops surrounded me (I was walking and smoking on the first day they enacted the law in Tokyo) checked my ID, asked me to take my shoes off and empty my wallet and pockets. This was on a public street with hundreds of people passing and watching. After that they let me go. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but they can hold you up to 3 days with no charge right, for example, if they don't like your face? I wonder how that compares to other developed countries. In the US I think its 24 hours (again, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)

[Are they the lemmings?]

I always thought it was 10 days, which can be extended by another 10 days if circumstances require. Don't quote me on that, though.

[bshabu]

Also in the US, you say "lawyer" and the police have to stop. In Japan you have a right to a lawyer, but the police still can do what they want.

[behan]

I don't think you have the right to have a lawyer present during questioning in Japan. Foreigners may have the right to an interpreter. Not 100% sure on this, though.