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Tatsuya Ichihashi
ICHIHASHI ARRESTED BY POLICE IN OSAKA
Tuesday 10th November, 09:10 PM JST
OSAKA —
Police on Tuesday night arrested the suspect in the 2007 murder of a British woman after fingerprints confirmed he is Tatsuya Ichihashi, a 30-year-old fugitive wanted in the case.
Ichihashi, who had altered his appearance through cosmetic surgery, was taken to Suminoe police station. He is currently only wanted on a technical charge of abandoning the body of language school teacher Lindsay Hawker, who was 22 at the time of her death, at his apartment. Chiba prefectural police said they will upgrade the charge to murder.
Ichihashi was taken into custody on the second floor of Nanko ferry terminal after police received a phone call at 6:44 p.m. from another passenger at the terminal saying that a man resembling Ichihashi was sitting by himself. Two police officers arrived at first and approached Ichihashi who was wearing a gray jacket, black cap and sunglasses. Two other officers arrived shortly after.
Witnesses told NHK that Ichihashi remained calm and could be heard telling the police his name. He had been reportedly waiting to board a ferry for Okinawa after coming from Kobe earlier in the day.
Ichihashi was transported from Shin-Osaka station to Chiba by bullet train later Tuesday night.
NHK also aired comments from Ichihashi’s parents. His father said they were relieved to hear that their son had been taken into custody. They expressed sorrow for the Hawker family and urged their son to explain clearly what he did.
Meanwhile, Hawker’s father Bill told TBS in a telephone interview on Tuesday night that his nightmare is finally over. “I very much look forward to seeing Ichihashi across a courtroom, so I can look him in the face,” Hawker said.
The case has attracted widespread public attention as Ichihashi, who media reports once suggested had killed himself, was found alive and with a new look after undergoing plastic surgery on several occasions.
Ichihashi escaped from police officers when they called at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in March 2007 and then found Hawker’s body inside a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony. The police later distributed fliers and offered a 10 million yen reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
Hawker’s family also visited Japan to ask for help in resolving the case, but no significant progress had been made over the last two and a half years.
The case took a sudden turn when Ichihashi showed up at a clinic in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in late October for another round of plastic surgery. The police soon released a photograph of his post-surgery face with double-fold eyelids instead of single, a higher nose bridge and thinner lips, and it was widely displayed.
It led to numerous further discoveries about him, including his attempt to receive another plastic surgery operation in Fukuoka Prefecture. He was also found to have lived and worked at a construction company in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, for over a year up until this October.
News reports
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kinniku at 06:20 AM JST - 13th November
nigelboy,
Umm...If 'as always, hindsight is 20/20 (you know, perfect or correct) ', then you have already admitted my 'hindsight' was correct. Then, amusingly, you attempt to incorrectly argue against it.
Also, 'hindsight' is one of the reasons people do not make the same mistakes again (for example, now you won't use the expression 'hindsight is 20/20 and then argue that said hindsight is not 20/20).
As they, we and, or course, the police should. As noted above, hindsight helps people avoid making the same mistakes again. That is, unless you think the world is perfect and no one should take stock of anything they do. You never think over what you have done and try to learn from it? I should hope that is not the case. Do you generally berate people that do? I again should hope not.
Heh, funny you paste a Japanese quote with the answer to your question and you don't even notice. Do you read what you paste?
'Because he had already had previous surgeries...'. I guess I understand why you don't read what others write, you did not seem to read what you wrote. Why bother pasting something you did not read in Japanese? Again, he had been to more than one surgical hospital, as even noted in the quote that you provided, although you did not seem to notice it. So, of course he was going to look different than the wanted posters at that point. I also wrote that very same thing above. However, again you seem not to have noticed that. I and some in the media were merely suggesting if each of the surgical hospitals had been provided with the photo, it could have been used when he first appeared at the hospital. There is nothing wrong with this statement and it is a true statement. In contrast, in your previous post, you not only seemed to be against the idea of wanted posters being sent to cosmetic surgeries, but also against them in general suggesting they had little meaning.
kinniku at 06:35 AM JST - 13th November
nigelboy,
Sorry, I mistakenly hit the submit button. To continue:
Umm...why are you writing this to me? I agree 100% with this and have never written anything to take away from the hard work the police do. As I wrote in my first post on this thread (which it seem again you have not read), I agreed with smartacus when he wrote that readers should understand how difficult it is to crack a murder case and should give the police a break. I continued with the suggestion that this case will help the police become even more effective in the future. Did you see that? Even more effective. As you wrote, nobody is perfect. However, only the foolish would not want to avoid future avoidable mistakes. That is why 'hindsight' is important and why berating (as you did) attempts to avoid the same mistakes in the future is counterproductive.
No, I cannot 'forgive' you (I know you are being sarcastic here), because you specifically chose my post to which to respond without really reading it and you went so far as to even suggest that wanted posters in general have no meaning. There is nothing wrong with reviewing procedures to avoid mistakes. In fact, you have been doing exactly the same thing in your responses in this thread. You have been guessing as to how things would have been different if other things had been done and whether they would have been more or less effective.
There was absolutely nothing abnormal or unusual about my reported suggestion and there was no reason for the attitude you took in responding to it. Try reading what people write more carefully before you post.
nigelboy at 08:12 AM JST - 13th November
No kinniku. My point about hindsight is that people including yourself have cricized the police based on benefit of knowing the fact Ichihashi did or try to do in the past when not a single soul especially in this site suggested about sending pictures about clinics during which time he was at large. Only when the strong evidence that he was using such clinics surfaced that the armchair detectives started with their "woulda coulda shoulda".
And secondly, do you think for a moment that passing out pictures to clinics immediately after his escape would of caught the guy if Ichihashi decided to have a sugery two years after? What good that's that going to do when the pictures at the clinics are tucked away in a file? Sure it would of worked if Ichihashi happens to come by certain clinics after few days when the pictures were distributed. But like I said before, that's no more effective than a posters we see outside kobans if Ichihashi didn't show up for these clinics two years after.
I mean if it's that simple, all the police has to do is distribute Ichihashi's pictures to every household in Japan. But that's not going to be "effective" because people will lose interest.
So to answer your post above, it is not a "mistake"as you claim when the police cannot predict EXACTLY what Ichihashi is going to do while he is at large.
kinniku at 08:36 AM JST - 13th November
nigelboy,
Please point to ONE place where I have criticized the police. I have not done so. Again, you are incorrect and show that you do not read what people write before responding.
Just because someone does not suggest something correct before does not mean the suggestion is incorrect when suggested later. Your argument continues not to make much sense.
Ummm...the police had suggested for some time that Ichihashi was attempting to change his appearance. They even put out a poster of him looking like a female. So, the suggestion that in future sending photos to plastic surgeons may be effective is completely valid.
Yes, if the clinic had the photo and compared it with the man in front of them.
Again, try reading what people write, I answered this already. First, there are not that many murders in Japan. If there is a NATIONAL manhunt, it was follow there are wanted posters. If there is a suspicion that the suspect will attempt to change their appearance, as there apparently was in this case, then sending photos to hospitals makes perfect sense and certainly could not have hurt.
Why? If the photo matches the person, it was be effective. Certainly the media blitz of the last few days helped to have Ichihashi captured.
Yeah, right. Like the ferry employee lost interest...NOT.
Who is talking about "exacts"? I am merely suggesting that since it was a possibility that he was going to change his appearance that sending photos would have been helpful. You have written absolutely nothing to prove it would not have been.
Hirota56 at 06:26 PM JST - 13th November
A big "arigato" to the J-cops for finally catching the SOB. I trust that the Japanese judiciary system will deal him in their own way. After all this is Japan, and we basically have no right to lecture to the Japanese, for it is a sovereign nation. If we don't like here, we should all just go home. In any country, one rotten apple spoils the whole bunch. Plain and simple.
ThonTaddeo at 09:57 PM JST - 13th November
Nonsense.
kinniku at 10:43 PM JST - 13th November
nigelboy,
As I wrote above, I am merely suggesting that since it was a possibility that he was going to change his appearance that sending photos would have been helpful.
National Police Agency Police Chief Takaharu Ando agrees with me.
警察庁の安藤隆 春長官は「今後は、容疑者の写真を整形外科医院に手配することを 検討する」と述べました。
Translation: National Police Agency Police Chief Takaharu Ando stated that “We will consider sending photos of suspects to plastic surgery hospital from now on.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uddN7kB8cdc&NR=1
Yup. That's gotta sting, huh? Anyway, I will wait for your apology for incorrectly accusing me of criticizing the police, which is something I have never done. Quite the opposite in fact.
nigelboy at 03:40 AM JST - 14th November
Considering he had little money (50,000 yen according to some reports) at the time of escape, plastic surgery was not considered an option at that time nor in the immediate future. Hence, it makes perfect sense to narrow your search to where he would be hiding/frequenting/working. The bottom line is that if he couldn't earn the money, there would no plastic surgery.
And that applies to handing out pictures to every household and business establishments doesn't it?
I'm going to answer the above by replacing some phrases in your last setence.
"If there is a suspicion that the suspect will try to earn money, as there apparently in this case, then sending photos to business establishements makes perfect sense and certainly could not hurt"
Yes. Thank you. It became news because of his new image. I stated previously on this thread that..
"Those were just a couple of "credible" leads out of thousands that the police decided to release to the media. If the police released every bit of information (without verifying the credibility), the general public would lose the interest and the awareness level would not have been there."
An example is a direct mail advertisement. You'd be lucky to glance at it if you happen to be interested in a certain product/services but in most cases, that goes into a trash bin.
Psycologist Kageyama summarizes it best.
不安心理から（市橋容疑者を）整形に走ったものの、整形したことが報道されて、かえって目立つ結果となってしまった」
"Because of his anxiety he chose plastic surgery. And the fact that his surgery was reported increased his exposure"
Which by the way, reinvigorated the public attention which lead to his capture.
If we're talking about changing appearances, how about sending photos to barbers/salons? My point is that the possibilities are endless including sending to construction companies that hired Ichihashi which enabled him to earn enough money to get the plastic surgery.
Not really. I knew about the Chiefs statement before. This kneejerk statement if it is applied means that there will be less man work hours allocated to future criminals' to other avenues which have lead to capture of past fugitives.
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/coldcase/fugitive/news/20081029ddm041040126000c.html
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/coldcase/fugitive/news/20081028ddm041040019000c.html
kinniku at 09:56 AM JST - 14th November
nigelboy,
I never wrote that the police thought he was immediately going to change his appearance. It was later that the police suggested that. A police case is a living breathing thing, it changes over time and so does the police reaction to it. Again, you really need to start reading what people write.
Your point is what exactly? He was on the run for over two years and obviously did earn enough money over time.
Do you not read the news? The police did give out posters to households and business establishments. They did not give them to plastic surgery hospitals. When trying to catch someone, it is a game of numbers and, in many cases luck, for the police in addition to the regular detective work involved. Obviously the more people thought to have a chance to see him being passed a photo to look at the better chance of capturing him.
Go for it.
Heh, you are selective in what you read in the news, huh? As I wrote, the police did pass out and send flyers, posters and photos to business establisments. Maybe you should know a bit about your subject before you shoot your mouth off.
Ummm...I always look at things before I put them in the trash. I would imagine most people do.
It certainly made it stronger, but I disagree with the idea that the public was not interested up to that point. The Japanese are quite vigilant when it comes to crime and criminals and when it comes to capturing them.
Before I answer let me ask you, how do you know that they didn't? After all, you did not know the police had sent flyers to business establishments, did you? However, the chances are much more unlikely that he would go to a barber. One only needs a pair of scissors and some hair dye to do those kinds of changes and it would not be worth it for a fugitive to risk going to a barber/salon. The same is not true of plastic surgery. Common sense.
Sorry, I do not believe you. If you had heard the POLICE CHIEF'S statement before saying EXACTLY what I wrote, you would not have incorrectly accused me of CRITICIZING the POLICE. I am still waiting for that apology for your incorrect claim, by the way.
First of all, I really wish you would not criticize the police using hindsight like that. The police agree with my conclusion
Second, your assumption that sending flyers to plastic surgeries, when they sent them to other business establisments, would somehow prevent the Japanese police from solving cases is unfounded and ridiculous.
Still waiting for that apology for your completely incorrect accusation that I was criticizing the police. As anyone can see, I have never done that. Quite the opposite. In fact, the National Police Agency Police Chief agrees with what I wrote and stated so. Yup, it's gotta sting. Probably better for you to start actually reading what people write before posting. It would also be better if you tried not to criticize the police as you did in your above post. It merely sounds like what it is, sour grapes.
nigelboy at 12:25 AM JST - 18th November
It was later suggested that he may change his appearance as a "woman" using a wig. Of course, any fugitive on the run is going to change his/her appearance. This is a no brainer. But to what extent they go is another matter. That is the point.
To narrow your investigation since personnel/man hours are limited. Just because he's been on the run for over two years does not mean he made enough to save money. Just because he happened to save substantial sums of money doesn't me he'll resort to cosmetic surgery. Just because Ichihashi did those things does not mean the future and current fugitives are going to follow the same paths as the past fugitives the police caught.
Did they send them to "every" household and business establishments? Before you criticize someone of not reading, I suggest you do the same.
I would imagine that most people would glance it over, and go "not another Ichihashi pictures", and go straight to the trash. And I would venture to say that majority of business establishments will do the same. The police in Japan generally sites two reasons why it becomes difficult to capture fugitives. 無関心 （Disinterest) and 相互不干渉 (Non involvment in other parties affairs). In this case, what made the general public more interested is the fact that he did change his appearance which lead to more heightened awareness as the psychologist sited previously addressed. If the police informed the media of every possible leads without credibility, the general public will lose interest and if that's the case, the media stops reporting about it.
In general, they are not "quite vigilant" when it comes to crime and criminals and when it comes to capturing them as addressed in my previous paragraph.
http://shadow9.seesaa.net/article/108676645.html
This is why the issue of using public funds for award money was implemented couple years ago.
The general public tends to lose interest when the same info/picture is recycled over and over. This case, especially, is a an example of that.
Common sense tells you that Ichihashi is hiding in a underground district and frequenting internet cafe's which the police were concentrating on during the investigation. Can't confirm that he was working in those type of establishments but we know now that he was indeed using internet cafes. My point is that you concentrate on these "common sense" establishments first and foremost and continue to do so until a new credible lead on his whereabouts are confirmed. Just because Ichihashi happens to use cosmetic surgery should not be a boiler plate investigation method for future fugitives as even the police chief qualified his statement with (今後必要に応じ).
kinniku at 06:47 AM JST - 18th November
nigelboy,
In contrast to yourself, since I have never, from the beginning been speaking in absolutes, nothing you have written in your latest response detracts from my suggestion that it is possible it would have been helpful to send photos to hospitals. Let us look at your comments specifically and see why they have generally added nothing to the conversation, shall we?
Yes. So? They found a wig in his apartment that led to the police suggestion a year later. They were hoping for a lucky lead as police are want to do. I am suggesting that sending his photo to hospitals would have also been wise to try. The National Police Chief agrees with me.
Are you reading what I write? This sentence does not even respond to what you quoted from me. Plus, I NEVER suggested narrowing the investigation. In fact, that is what YOU have been suggesting. Are you having trouble keeping track of what we are talking about?
Of course it doesn't. No one, including either myself or the National Police Chief, who agrees with me, have ever spoke in absolutes. You are the only one here speaking in absolutes. That is why you are mistaken.
It was a ridiculous question and a ridiculous notion and I did not take you seriously. You seem to lose track of the conversation quickly. You are suggesting sending photos to hospitals would take away from solving murder cases, which I have suggested is both ridiculous and unfounded. Then you suggest they spend an impossible amount of manpower on the impossible task of handing a photo to each and every citizen and resident in Japan. Sorry, again, that does not make much sense.
If they recognize the man, that would be the goal of passing out the papers. That would increase the chances of capture. That is all the police are hoping for. However, now you seem to be arguing against wanted posters in general, which, again, does not make sense as they have helped to capture fugitives in the past. The rest of your paragraph talking about 'disinterest', including the couple of Japanese words to explain simple English words (which you tend to use strange English to explain), adds nothing new to the conversation, nor does it take away from what I wrote.
However, I found it interesting you are not aware that phone calls to the police actually DECREASED, not INCREASED, after the new images were shown by police.
You did not address that at all. You merely suggested that over time it becomes more difficult to capture fugitives. Of course, this is only natural and I have never written anything to say it is not. I have merely suggested and the National Police Chief agrees, that as the investigation continues new methods should be considered and I suggested sending photos to hospitals as one of these suggestions. This does not mean Japanese people are not quite vigilant about crime and criminals.
No, not only that. The picture that police had no longer mattered because it did not match the fugitive. That was the biggest problem in finding him.
I have no problem with this and have written nothing to say this line of investigation was wrong.
Yes, and the National Police Chief and I are suggesting sending photos of the number one subject of a national manhunt to hospitals can also be common sense.
The National Police Chief and I NEVER said it should be a 'boiler plate' investigation method. I quoted the National Police Chief as saying they were 'considering' (検討)it and I merely suggested it be considered. Why is it you are just noticing it now? Again, you have added nothing new to the conversation and are just repeating what has already been written. You are the only one suggesting 'boiler plate investigation methods' and absolutes. I have merely been suggesting possibilities. I am still waiting for the apology for your completely incorrect accusation that I was criticizing the police. It was you above that did that. The most honorable thing for you to do now would be to admit both that my suggestion, which the National Police Chief agrees with, should at least be considered on a case by case basis and that you were mistaken when you mistakenly jumped in and wrongly accused me of criticizing the police, which as anyone can see I have never done.
nigelboy at 03:36 AM JST - 19th November
That is not what the National Police Chief stated. He merely stated that the police will consider sending photos to clinics if necessity arises meaning that if there is a strong evidence that he/she will use such means, then they will consider it. What you are insisting is that the photos should have been sent before the first sugery ever took place when given the evidence at hand at the time, this may not be applicable. Now looking back, was there a strong evidence that Ichihashi was going to use a clinic? No. Because when he escaped, he left his wallet and the police concluded that he fled the scene with no more than 50,000 yen.
The below link has some archived articles about the possible whereabouts of Ichihashi by experts a few months after the incident. Interesting note here is a former police investigator stated at that time that he is most likely hiding where he could maintaing his anonyminity and rest where there are heavy concentration on overnight stay and that there are many ways to earn just enough through manual labor.
http://nazo.fujirink.com/?cid=31959 市橋容疑者の所持金は少なく、自動車などの移動手段も持っていないと見られる。「匿名性の高い場所、簡易宿泊街などに身を隠し、肉体労働などで日銭を稼ぐなど手段はいくらでもある」とした上で「コンビニなどの強盗、ひったくりをするのではないか」と指摘する。
My question to you now is at what point and where should the police started investigating the clinics? Please bear in mind that police personnel/hours a limited and it would mean that they have to pass out the pictures personally on clinic to clinic basis as Dr. Omori stated.
同学会によると、指名手配犯の顔写真なども学会を通じた連絡手段があるわけではなく、各警察が病院に注意を呼びかける場合は、病院に対し、個別に手配写真などを配布していくのだという。
Please also bear in mind by doing so, you are allocating less personnel/man hours to other credible whereabouts as referenced previously. Please also bear in mind that Ichihashi is only the second fugitive apprehended where he/she used plastic surgery. I'm curious to know your answer because you seem to assume that NP Chief would consider sending pictures before a fugitive tries to use the clinic where I'm under assumption that “今後必要に応じ” means that there are strong evidence in place which to me means evidence that he had in fact used or try to use the clinics.
"整形後の市橋容疑者の写真を公開してから６日正午までに、２００件以上の情報が寄せられていたことが分かった。"
After the release of the new picture to noon on the 6th, there were over 200 tips.
"捜査本部には事件発生から先月末までの間に７５００件を超える情報が入っていたが、２年半以上がたった最近では、１日平均２～３件ほどしか情報がなかった。"
From the time of the incident until the end of October, there were over 7,500 leads. After two and half years since the incident, recently, they only received on avereage 2-3 leads.
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091106-00000610-san-soci
The reason why I repeat that statement is the you operate under the assumption the police force personnel/manpower/funds are without limits. So now that you agree that it's not, the issue is how those limited resources are to be utilized best as much as possible. And given the evidence and leads at that time, it did not call out for handing out pictures to clinics door to door nor shall it apply to present/future fugitives.
Now going back a few messages, I'm curious to know where you got this from?
kinniku at 06:59 AM JST - 19th November
Ummm...Yes, he did say that and what you wrote is EXACTLY what I said. He said they should consider it and I said they should consider it and you jump in and tried to claim there is no reason to consider it. You have been suggesting they should never consider it. The Police Chief and I think you are wrong. Obviously the police chief is considering it because it would have possibly been helpful (IE wise) to have done it this time. As I have been saying all along. Again, you are merely repeating yourself and in addition are using my words. Read what I write CAREFULLY before you respond and you might realize you have no argument left.
Lots of what police do may not be 'applicable'. As I have repeated for your benefit many times already, chasing a fugitive is a numbers game. The longer the fugitive is out the higher the chance they have changed their appearance. Anyway, Ichihashi is not the first long term wanted person in Japan to change his appearance using plastic surgery and because of the publicity of this case, I doubt he will be the last. Is it possible he would not do plastic surgery? Of course it is. Just as it was possible he was getting money from friends or relatives. EVERY logical path should be considered. You have been insisting that investigations should be done EXACTLY the way they have been up to now and I think that is unrealistic.
Sigh...Again (and again and again), I am not suggesting that plastic surgery should always be considered as a possibility. No one is suggesting that. I was not suggesting they start sending photos the minute he escaped as you seem to be suggesting with your quote. However, once a reasonable period of time has passed (obviously this would be one a case by case basis), I think it is reasonable to CONSIDER the idea. You have been insisting it NEVER is reasonable to CONSIDER it and you are wrong.
In Ichihara's case? Well, I admit I am not one of the detectives that was assigned to the case. However, I would suggest that around March of 2008 would have been a logical time to consider it when they started to suspect he had attempted to change his appearance. I would never suggest that this would have guaranteed capture. However, in this case, it would have made his capture more likely. That is what I am saying all along. Considering his relative success, I think it is possible that other people will now attempt the same thing.
I disagree with the premise that police would need to pass out the photos personally. Obviously that is not the only way wanted posters are given out in Japan and it would not always be necessary in this case.
Ichihashi's case now makes the possibility that someone in the future will try it again much more likely. The price of these surgeries are getting cheaper as well which increases the likelihood that someone will attempt it in the future.
Yes. Obviously any method takes away time from other methods. However, I disagree with your blanket and unfounded statement that it would prevent other fugitives from being caught.
Sorry, my DECREASED and INCREASED were backwards. I was merely saying that wanted posters do work and that it was the images of Ichihashi that got him arrested. You have been suggesting that wanted posters do not work. I was suggesting that this is evidence that they do.
Baloney. I have never made any such suggestion. Please stick with what I write. It is your assumption that by sending photos to hospitals that it means other fuigtives will NOT be caught. You have made that suggestion.
Yes, and you say photos should NEVER be sent to clinics. The Police Chief and I think you are wrong...and you are.
Sorry. As much as you think you are, you are not qualified nor knowledgable enough about what the evidence and leads in the case were to make this statement.
Nope. No more free informational tips for you. First, I am still waiting for the apology for your completely incorrect accusation that I was criticizing the police. It was you above that did that. The most honorable thing for you to do now would be to admit both that my suggestion, which the National Police Chief agrees with, should at least be considered on a case by case basis and that you were mistaken when you mistakenly jumped in and wrongly accused me of criticizing the police, which as anyone can see I have never done. Then I will respond.
nigelboy at 06:58 AM JST - 20th November
The quote I was responding to was "I am suggesting that sending his photo to hospitals would have also been wise to try." which is obviously not the chief said. But then again, as ambiguous and empty as Chief's "We will think about the possibility of sending pictures to clinics if we feel it's necessary" knee-jerk-appease-the-public-for-now-comment, one could intepret it that way.
As I continuously stated, I favor status quo because of the reasons I cited previously in that in a manhunt, there are limited number of police personnel. Hence, the police should concentrate, first and foremost,the whereabouts based on credible leads and evidence at hand and that includes the clinics(part of a business establishment) if and only if there is a strong evidence that suggest so. Just because they found a "wig" is not one of them. EVERY logical paths should be considered? Sure. I'm sure when Chiba Police were brainstorming, one officer may have brought up the possibility about the use of the cosmetic surgery along with many other possibilities. But you yourself have to admit that the list is endless and actually "considering" and "taking action" are two different things.
I'll give you credit for explaining your position when such pictures should be distributed but unfortunately, all you did was basically open up a whole can of worms since every fugitive who is wanted for heineous crime wants to change their appearance. This is a no brainer. If we were cite Ichihashi as an example, every futigitive on the below link should fit that profile.
http://www.npa.go.jp/wanted/index.htm
Will you please grow a spine take a stand? You're sentences are too ambiguous like that of the Police chief.
Every fugitive who is wanted for henious crime (i.e.Murder) is going to want his/her appearance changed. Yes or No??
If you answered "Yes" to the above and if you truly believe that the Police chief agrees with you, then it won't be long before their pictures (18 fugitives) are distributed to the cosmetic clinics in the near future, right?
No you didn't.
I never stated that "wanted posters" don't work. I pointed out the decrease in effectiveness when recycled the same thing over and over again. What I stated exactly was:
"In this case, what made the general public more interested is the fact that he did change his appearance which lead to more heightened awareness as the psychologist sited previously addressed. "
And for the second time, what the psychologist stated was:
不安心理から（市橋容疑者を）整形に走ったものの、整形したことが報道されて、かえって目立つ結果となってしまった」
"Because of his anxiety he chose plastic surgery. And the fact that his surgery was reported increased his exposure"
Your whole argument is based on the premise of
"I further was merely reporting that one of the surgical hospitals themselves had suggested that if they had been provided with a photo of Ichihashi that they would have been able to recognize him."
It would of been nice to have a link to that source, that's all.
But you are criticizing the police.
"Criticize-To judge the merits and faults of; analyze and evaluate."
kinniku at 08:12 AM JST - 20th November
It is obvious that this is what the chief meant as the reason he was making the statement is that everyone knows had they sent photos to cosmetic surgeries they would have possibly increased the chance of him being caught.
Now, THIS is criticizing (will get to your knowingly (?) incomplete definition of the word later) the police. The chief is merely showing that the police are attempting to learn from experience. If you really attempt to think about it you will see there is nothing to criticize there. However, again, it is ironic that you criticize (will get to your knowingly (?) incomplete definition of the word later)the police while incorrectly suggesting I was criticizing them.
As I have continuously stated, the idea that police would have had to personally hand out the photos nationwide is incorrect and unrealistic and does not match police procedure. So, the amount of man hours you are attempting to suggest would be necessary would not.
However, there were voices in the police and former NPA detectives suggesting that Ichihashi might use plastic surgery. In fact, an article in December of last year here shown in January of this year on JT has a quote from one former NPA detective suggesting that if Ichihashi gets plastic surgery that it will make him hard to catch. Some other things to consider, you were incorrect when you said only one other person in Japan used plastic surgery to attempt to allude police. Members of Aum also did this. Ichihashi came from a medical family. Although it now seems unlikely, it was thought by former detectives of the NPA that Ichihashi's family might give him financial help. In Japan, people can get cosmetic surgery with relative ease. If you have the cash, you do not need to correctly identify yourself and you do not need to show any national or social insurance card. You can be anyone and get it done with no questions asked. So, yes. There were not only suggestions within the police, there was also a system in place that makes it fairly easy to do so. That is why I think, if both the police and the system are not changed, we will possibly see more cases like this in the future.
There are not that many people that are the subject of a Japanese national dragnet. Ichihashi was the number one subject of a national manhunt. The others on your list don't fit that situation.
As I said, this is a case by case situation. However, the case of Ichihashi was quite different from the other cases that you linked. Ichihashi was the number one subject of a national manhunt. The police felt pressure to capture him because of criticism they received about the way Ichihashi got away from them when they first went to capture him. Obviously if the police are going after the number 1 subject of a manhunt, sending photos to hospitals would be logical. Obviously more effort should be put into a case which the police consider more of a priority. However, I would have no problem with updated pictures of all 18 wanted people being sent to hospitals. Again, there is no need to have them lovingly and personally delivered by the police. Police often fax, mail or email such notices as well.
I was merely attempt to reiterate my strong conclusion that seeing the photo helped Ichihashi get captured. Further, even if the photo was just 'tossed in a file' at the hospital as you suggest. If the original faced Ichihashi were to walk in, it would be a simple task to say 'Hey, didn't I see that face before?' 'Let's look in that wanted photo file.' 'Hey, it's him!" Though I do admit in my excitement to type my response, I wrote it incorrectly. Hey, my grammar and spelling haven't been that great in this thread either.
However, if hospitals have the original picture of the number one subject of a nation-wide manhunt, it follows he would be more easily recognized. BTW, I don't think it was the 'recycling' that was the problem. It was the fact that Ichihasi didn't even look like what the posters showed anymore. So, of course, they will be less effective over time if he has changed his appearance. That is why it might have been helpful if hospitals had the original photo to compare him to.
I have not disagreed with this, so there was no need to repeat it. However, it was the existence of the photo itself, that match Ichihashi's appearance that led to his arrest. An original photo sent to a hospital could have reasonably had the same result.
"I further was merely reporting that one of the surgical hospitals themselves had suggested that if they had been provided with a photo of Ichihashi that they would have been able to recognize him."
The night he was captured, one of the TV stations interviewed several hospitals, one I believe was in Fukuoka, that made this suggestion and also stated that they had never been given a photo of the suspect. I have not seen this specifically in print. It was on the news the night he was captured.
Umm...please. You were not using this definition in your response to me. Let's look at a more complete definition, shall we?
1 : to consider the merits and demerits of and judge accordingly : evaluate 2 : to openly find fault with : to openly point out the faults of
I was not and am not finding fault. I am not being disapproving of the police, which is exactly what you meant by your comment that I was 'criticizing the police'. Now, I am still waiting for the apology for your completely incorrect accusation that I was criticizing the police. It was you above that did that. The most honorable thing for you to do now would be to admit both that my suggestion, which the National Police Chief agrees with, should at least be considered on a case by case basis and that you were mistaken when you mistakenly jumped in and wrongly accused me of criticizing the police, which as anyone can see I have never done. Weighing the pros and cons of something is very different from opening and disapprovingly finding fault with something, which you incorrectly accused me of doing. Still waiting for the apology that I am due.