TOKYO —

About 80 percent of police detectives nationwide say it is difficult to gain cooperation from the public in investigations due in part to increased awareness about the protection of private information, according to a survey released Friday by the National Police Agency. The survey - published in the 2008 police white paper - was conducted in January this year and covered 2,454 detectives who belong to major police stations across Japan. In the survey, 79.2 percent replied in the affirmative when asked whether they feel it is difficult to gain cooperation in investigations.

As to why they think it difficult, 58.3 percent answered that many people think it bothersome to talk to the police, followed by 48.2 percent who said many companies and entities are cautious about providing information voluntarily, and 31.9 percent who said people are reluctant to talk to the police because they are too busy. The survey showed 52.3 percent of the detectives said they were refused access to relevant documents, while 43.2 percent said the people they questioned hesitated to identity themselves and 29.8 percent said people refused to provide information when they were questioned. The white paper cited a sharp decline in the number of alleged Penal Code violations uncovered by detectives’ investigative activities from 10,464 in 1993 to 4,820 in 2007. Against such a backdrop, the paper noted the importance of scientific approaches in investigations including beefing up DNA databases and building a database of three-dimensional profile images of suspects.

Kyodo

7 Comments

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  wanderlust at 05:49 PM JST - 22nd August

  They do not trust the police.

  Ask the poor guy in Matsumoto, who tried to help in the first sarin gas release, and ended up being accused of the crime!

  People fear that any help they give might end up being used against them!

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  DenshaDeGO at 09:26 PM JST - 22nd August

  the protection of private information

  "Private information" is a term the Japanese joke about and throw around but ultimately don't fully comprehend, like "sexual harassment".

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  ca1ic0cat at 01:28 AM JST - 23rd August

  thus some of the issues investigating Ms. Hawker's murder's whereabouts.

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  sensei258 at 06:56 AM JST - 23rd August

  Shouldn't "being bothersome" and "being too busy" be the same category? That means about 90% just don't want to go through the trouble.

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  Betting at 08:20 AM JST - 23rd August

  I'd have to agree with DenshaDEGO, the Japanese just do not comprehend what private information means. Like many things here, they take the defence of their "private information" to extremes and can make even their daily life suffer.

  I worked at an English school a few years ago and the staff asked a potential customer to fill out the questionnaire as they always did. The customer refused to answer most of the questions citing "private information".

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  AlliedForces at 09:09 AM JST - 23rd August

  If the Japanese police were to learn how to cooperate with the general population then maybe they would cooperate back.

  The J cops need some communications training and learn how to treat people with respect. If you act like an oaf, don`t expect anyone to assist you.

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  zaichik at 07:45 AM JST - 26th August

  The government has made a rod for its own back with its Law on the Disclosure of Private Information and this is the result.

  I can understand that care needs to be taken with regard to the disclosure of personal information, but it really is taken to extremes in Japan at times. At my company, we frequently have to apply to Japanese hospitals for medical information about clients who are applying for pre-approval for surgery. We get our clients to sign a form stating that they authorise us to access their relevant medical information, but some Japanese hospitals won't accept it unless it is the original document signed by the client, and other hospitals actually demand that the client go there in person to apply for the information - not terribly useful if the client is currently admitted to another hospital.

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