Topic One: Community Involvementin Law Enforcement

Paper – General L. Mendoza, Chief, Philippine National Police
Paper – Mr. M. Okabe, Deputy Director, Police Policy ResearchCenter, National Police Academy, Japan
Reaction – Ms. A. Sta. Maria, Attorney, Ateneo Law School,
the Philippines

Please note that the following papers have not been edited
for publication. The opinions expressed therein are those of
the author’s. They do not necessarily reflect the position of
the departments or agencies that they represent.

DYNAMICS OF THE COMMUNITYIN LAW ENFORCEMENT
By
General Leandro R. MENDOZA
Chief, Philippine National Police

Only the other week, and during the 3rd National Convention of the Association of Chiefs of Policeof the Philippines at Camp Crame, Asian Institute of Management Professor Mario Lopez delivered a lectureon ethical leadership. He had occasion to deal on the criminal justice system of the country – law
enforcement, prosecution, judiciary, rehabilitation, and community.
What is interesting in his assessment – as a member of the academia – is his disavowal of thecommunity as a part of the criminal justice system cluster. He opined that the community – being thebeneficiary of government services – should not be lined together with the dispensers of such services. The
community, he said, should be the end to which criminal justice system roads lead. Hence, it is not a partof the cluster.
I brought this perspective from the academia to show our lack of unity of thought – and therefore, ofcoherence of action – in the administration of the criminal justice system. This is not an irreversible
drawback, though. But it is a real challenge calling for bolder thinking. The AIM educator has a sensible
point. We know we can easily pinpoint the responsibility of the four pillars of the criminal justice system– the policeman or another law enforcer like the NBI agent, the fiscal from the Department of Justice, thejudge, and the prison warden. But when we reach the fifth pillar we hesitate to specify the responsibilityof the citizen and the community of which he is a part. We can only talk of his voluntary involvement. For
he is not paid to be responsible and accountable. When the system fails, the citizen has no responsibility
to which he can be accountable. The fault is in any or all of the four pillars. The policeman bears thehardest brunt.
What we need to do more of, is to understand the citizen, the community. Thus, my subject matter
which covers the Dynamics of the Community in Law Enforcement. I shall be drawing from my experience
as a police officer. Inevitably, mine is a police perspective.
Everyone – regardless of creed, ideology, profession, politics, and status in life – is after and for theprevention and solution of crime. Even the criminal element does not want to be the victim of crime
himself. When he becomes one – as when his human rights are violated – he wants the full force of thelaw against his offender. Something is very crucial here. It is our correct understanding and appreciationof what community is all about. We need to comprehend in greater breadth its dynamics. I am afraid weneed to dig deeper.
The first level of this community dynamics begins with personal conscience, with the individual, withthe citizen himself. It is his conscience – or lack of it – that determines his observance of the law or his
defiance. The reason why anarchy has not ruled is simple to understand: the biggest majority of the citizens
observe the law. The few, however, who don’t are the cause of disorder. One crime is just one too many.
Specially heinous and organized crimes.
We are today about 78 million Filipinos. Forty million of us belong to the voting age. Question is
how many of us are committing crimes? To be sure, only a few. We do not need statistics to show proof.
Secondly, only a few are victims of crime. Also, there is no need for statistical proof. The problem is:whether victim or not, the fear of crime can afflict everyone, including some policemen.
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One would wish that at the individual level, everyone has a personal conscience that makes him detest
criminal behavior. That is not the case. In fact, the first crime committed as recorded in the Bible is theft– theft of the forbidden fruit from the tree of life. And when the thieves begot their two sons, one of thechildren committed the first murder on his one and only brother.
Unfortunately for us, the thieves happen to be our original parents. And the murderer and his victim
are our original brethren. That is why humanity had to invent government, the criminal justice system, andconferences like this today. You call that dynamics and it is.
The second level of community dynamics is the basic group formed by individuals. We call it thefamily composed of husband and wife and their children. Sometimes composed of the father-in-law andmother-in-law on both sides. Where the rule of law and respect for authority are ingrained in the family,
we can expect from the children therein to manifest the same values in school, in malls, and later in theirlives as adults.
From the individual to the family level, we reach the community level – first, the immediate vicinity
or neighborhood, then subdivisions, barangays, towns and cities, provinces and regions, and finally theFilipino national community. The dynamics is present in every level and at various points. It is not stagnant,
it is like a tide that ebbs.
How far are we in the appreciation and assessment of what we love to call as community? Somebody
once said that if there is anything common to community it has been its consistent lack of unity. Others
refer to lack of identity. Again, there is where the big challenge lies for us. It is within our power to construct
such unity and to create such identity. This we can do. I do not know if urbanization – and with it, modernity– has buried the salt and soul of the community spirit. I do know we still cherish and treasure the wordbayanihan. That we find this more often outside the metropolitan forest, is something that can be bad only
to the urbanites. Neighborhood in the cities does not seem to exist. We are just too preoccupied – andsometimes, too insecure – to know who our neighbors are. That is why we erect high walls to isolate andinsulate us. We have become afraid to become neighbors to one another. We call it barracks mentality inthe guise of privacy. Others call it peace of mind in a different guise. Under whatever guise, it all boils
down to insecurity which only serves to break up even more one’s sense of community or neighborhood.
Social capital pundits and theoreticians go for the argument that social capital, connections, social
networks are more correlated with human happiness than is financial capital. Pera perang lang naman,
people say. At the end of the day, we lose friends. By sunrise, we wake up with new enemies. We havewrongly equated money with the real honey in life; which is social capital, the capacity to be a neighbor to
one another. And yet, if we are to make democracy work, if we are to overcome citizen’s apathy, social
bonds are more critical than the money market. Churchgoing or membership in organizations generate more
happiness to us than the payslip which loses its value faster than missiles can hit Osama bin Laden.
I was born in the small town of San Juan, Batangas; also the birthplace of former Executive Secretary
Renato de Villa. Looking back to my childhood, I can not help but feel an influx of nostalgia. People –there and then – were secure, not at all alienated. And if I may say so, not all atomized. I am sure you have
similar remembrances of your birthplaces. We normally associate community with geography, with places,with territories. But there is something more than what the soil can give.
A community is a community of emotions, of feelings, of joys, and even of sorrows. Whensomebody in the neighborhood gets sick, the sense of community in us brings us to the sickbed. We do not
say “it’s none of my business”. We used to say: our neighbor is our business. What is it that nourishedand nurtured our sense of community, our sense of soil? It was communication, face-to-facecommunication.

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When we woke up in the morning and swept the front yard, we saw neighbors doing the same.
Inevitably, we had to clean common fronts together. We chatted, we communicated about seemingly trivial
things. Yet, these are what glued the small town residents together. This sense of community is assumed tobe easier to achieve these days. We now have the giant triad of mass transportation, mass communication,and mass media. However, it is the opposite that is true. We enclave ourselves inside a heavily tinted car.
We text our messages instead of a face-to-face chat. We open the radio and all we hear upsets our stomach
before we get to take our breakfast. Negativism, pessimism, and all kinds of isms have become our dailystock and everyday fare. We refuse to be happy. We stop trusting others. And we become victims of thefear of crime.
Many people love to talk endlessly of the breakdown of peace and order. We hardly hear of anyone
taking with equal passion about the break-up of our sense of community. I strongly suggest we revisit our
original sense of community. And also ask if we – Filipinos – are without the core values that constitute a
community.
This was the question asked by then Senator Leticia Shahani in 1987. She called for an in-depth
investigation into the Filipino character. She was worried alright of the apparent penchant of many for selfbashing or sui-policide. The inquiry was done and the report submitted in May of 1988. It was captioned
A Moral Recovery Program: Building a People, Building a Nation.
The method of analysis used is what we all know as SWOT for strengths, opportunities, threats, andweaknesses. In that report, the Filipino strengths were listed as: pakikipag-kapwa tao; family orientation;
joy and humor; flexibility, adaptability and creativity; hardwork and industry; faith and religiosity; and theability to survive.
There were weaknesses re-discovered, namely: extreme personalism; extreme family centeredness;lack of discipline; passivity and lack of initiative; colonial mentality; kanya-kanya syndrome; and lack ofself-analysis and self-reflection. If you compare the strengths with the weaknesses, you can sigh with relief
at the end of the effort. We are not hopeless after all. We are not a basket case at all.
Also in 1988, two months before the Senate report came out, the Social Weather Stations conducteda survey on Filipino values. These were the findings:(i) Putting the family above the law is not a dominant Filipino trait.
(ii) Filipinos do not obey blindly.
(iii) Filipinos easily sacrifice their personal benefit for the sake of the common interest.
I am very much interested in the third finding which makes common interest sacrosanct and superior
to personal interest. In other words, if at all our sense of community is dormant, we have every hope towake it from such slumber.
This is the kind of community – with its dormant sense of it – that today’s police is serving andprotecting. In 1994, we began in earnest to wake up that sleeping giant. We put together what you now
know as COPS or Community-Oriented Policing System. Three years later, we reformulated the PNP Visionby focusing on the creation of safe place. This could be made possible only by the combined forces of thepolice and the community. There were two inherent conditions, though. One, the policeman must become
truly professional, deeply dynamic, and highly motivated. And two, the community must become responsive.
The creation of a safe place is what forms the community of interest among citizens and between
them and their police. Nothing could be more mutually empowering and reinforcing. In such a safe place,— 33 —

crime is prevented. When perpetrated, the offenders are identified, charged, convicted beyond reasonable
doubt, and finally punished in accordance with the law. In such a safe place, the citizens are responsive
enough to report crimes to the police. In such a safe place, the citizens are courageous enough to remain
eternally vigilant and fearlessly unafraid. In such a safe place, the citizens are trusting enough to trust thepolice. If this is a risk to take, so be it. But it must be taken.
What COPS does is to empower the policeman in daily face-to-face contact with the community.
Here, familiarity does not breed contempt; it can only breed cooperation, coordination, and cohesion. The
following results come as a matter of course:(i) The policeman is known openly as an active member – and not a mobile visitor – of thecommunity he serves and protects.
(ii) He invariably becomes a visible deterrent to crime, his presence becoming a source of reassurance
to everyone who abides by the law.
(iii) He inevitably provides the connecting link between citizens and other vital agencies and organsof government.
What I am trying to drive at is the point that the policeman is the ideal public agent to begin
regenerating community spirit. That has been the aspiration. It still is. In fact, our Revised Medium Term
Development Plan for 2001 to 2004 singles out community empowerment as the most effective antidote toviolence and crime. There can never be a reform greater than that which comes from the community itself.
And there is no power more feared by the criminal elements than community empowerment. To do suchregeneration, I had directed after my appointment as Chief, PNP two specific programs. One, the schoolbased protection program. Two, the church-based anti-drugs program. Both programs treat the community
as the owners and stakeholders. The citizens are regarded as if they were in charge; while the police officers
remain as their best associates, protectors, and servants.
Let me now deal on the first program – the school-base protection program directed under Chief,
PNP’s Letter of Instruction 22/2001. We know that computer games centers, bar joints, billiard halls, karera
houses, and similar forms of vice structures had invaded school vicinities. Students, their parents andteachers had become anxious and anguished. The criminal elements has reared their ugly heads. What we
did was to help teachers organize a School Community Coordinating Council. The initiative to plan,
implement, oversee, supervise, and monitor crime prevention program inside and in the immediate vicinityof the school belongs to the council. PNP is only providing its reassuring presence and visibility.
Today, the school council is taking the following initiatives:(i) Increasing everyone’s awareness on the dangers of illegal drugs, criminality, campus violence,and other similar dangers in school.
(ii) Networking with other government agencies such as the local government units, non-governmentorganizations, and others.
(iii) Conducting periodic school security education seminars.
(iv) Holding sports activities and similar physical education programs for students.
The prospects are very encouraging. Some special programs have already been started such as
delinquent student intervention and corruption prevention programs. In the first program, concepts ofjuvenile referral, parenting skills, community service, counseling, and direct mentoring are being taught. In— 34 —

the second program, kotong cops are the focus of attention by students, their parents, and teachers. The
program belongs to the council. The PNP is there just to reassure everyone of its commanding presence
against criminal elements.
The second program is the illegal drug prevention program. This is a church-based and churchinitiated program which I reproduced under Letter of Instruction 21/2001. Again, the program belongs to
the church or churches in the communities to be served and protected. PNP is there only to give its
reassuring hand. This program is managed by a Church Community Coordinating Council which does thefollowing activities:(i) Organize the citizens themselves into a heightened awareness of the dangers to them of illegal
drug use, including the danger of citizen apathy and indifference. The latter prevails speciallyamong non-victims.
(ii) Conduct human resource development programs such as seminars, conferences, and conventions
periodically.
(iii) Network with other organizations.
(iv) Initiate livelihood programs by means of cooperatives or similar schemes.
(v) Redirect energies of the young through sports activities.
(vi) Formulate special programs to address special needs and requirements.
People supply drugs to make money. This is crash materialism that can be overpowered mosteffectively by the moral authority and ascendancy of the church. On the other hand, people buy drugs not
to waste their money but to buy something that money can not buy, which is imagined happiness. The latteris actually a way out of doses of anguish and anxiety brought about by too much money or too little of it.
It is a problem of the spirit which falls under the realm of the spiritual organization – the church.
Many people today – in the aftermath of the WTC and Pentagon suicide air crashes – are talking ofrecession, lay-offs, and slow recovery. The depression is felt everywhere. Specially now that our strongest
trading partner, USA, has recently and formally entered the season of recession. That, however, is notenough to kill the human spirit of enterprise. For as long as there is a citizen, there will always be acommunity. And the key to long-run endurance in the world is total citizen satisfaction. But the citizens
must be convinced that they are stakeholders. They must be made to feel as if they were in charge of public
safety. For communities to endure, the citizens must be empowered to be responsive and flexible.
What was it that lead to the collapse of autocratic economies in 1989? It was the loss of sense ofcommunity by the people themselves. They were helpless and powerless as individuals. Misery was theircompany. Confusion was their community. In a state of confusion, the natural scheme of things is to wait
for a messiah. The hope is for the messiah to give the people a vision. The messiah fails to arrive and sodoes the vision. Without a vision, the people perish – as the bible realistically indicates.
Why should people – be they employees in an organization or citizens in a republic – accept
empowerment? Why should people care at all? The reply to this question is that you and I care about
institutions we belong to. We care for organizations that exist in part for our well-being. We care for agencies
that dignify us as individuals. We care for a community that makes us feel a sense of our humanity.
We now know that nation states which wholly subordinate the person to the state fail to inspire loyalty
and dedication. We should now know that organizations that fail to build a sense of community in their— 35 —

people and personnel, are bound to fail, too. The value of a person transcends his performance. It is his
sense of community that makes him valuable. Nothing more, nothing less. If we are not to lose heart, wemust learn to care enough. By caring enough, we learn to take initiative. Initiative is where empowerment
begins. It begins in the community.
There is one last matter I have to speak about. We want the law enforcers to help empower thecommunity they serve and protect. Question is: how far are we empowering the law enforcers themselves?
Let me tell you the facts and figures. Next year, our total population is estimated to reach 79,503,675. The
police-to-population ratio will be 1:1,422 using a twelve-hour shift of police work every two days. We wantthem to work overtime and they do. Without need for overtime pay. You want us to prevent crime fromoccurring and solve it after its occurrence. All we want is the provision for basic equipment.
What do we need right now? First, we need 111,743 short firearms. How many do we have? Only
88,339. How can you expect us to do our jobs against the growing empire of organized violence and crime?
Second, we need 94,981 hand-held radios. We have only 3,065 units. Third, we need 3,066 patrol vehicles.
We have only 1,595. Fourth, we need 4,599 basic typewriters and 1,533 basic computers. We have only
3,262 typewriters and 509 computer units. We are not in need of state-of-the art weapons and instruments.
We are asking only for the basic equipment. Only the basic.
Having said that, let me take this opportunity to inform everyone that business appears to be very
prepared to help our police. There is today a business-led, a business-funded foundation, the Philippine
National Police Foundation, Inc. superbly headed by one of our own, the Distinguished and Honorable
Gilbert Teodoro. Into this foundation, many businessmen put their money. The interest earned is now being
used to procure some of the PNP equipment.
But this takes time. And time is not one of the luxuries we have in the war of attrition against
violence and crime. That is only one half of the story. The other half refers to what our retirees rightfully
deserve as their own, their retirement benefits. I am speaking of 4,727 police officers who are now retired
but who are today begging for what legally belongs to them. Let me give the specifics. First, out of the4,272 retirees, there are 1,817 who retired under the compulsory provision of the police retirement law. For
their terminal leave and gratuity, they deserve the amount of PHP4,148,250,417 next year. Thisadministration has already provided PHP1,796,549,871. We are very grateful. Second, out of the 4,272
retirees, there are 2,410 who retired under the early retirement provision of the police retirement law. For
their terminal leave and retirement gratuity, they deserve the amount of PHP3,348,702,156. Third, out of
the 4,272 retirees, there are 500 who are estimated to retire under the optional retirement provision of thepolice retirement law. For their terminal leave and retirement gratuity, they deserve the amount of
PHP1,306,794,670. I said all this because I want to wear the moccasins of the police officer. In so doing,
you may yet discover why he needs your hand. Why he wants you to trust him.
As I said earlier, mine is a perspective of a police officer. It is not the be-all. More importantly, I am
here to see for myself the perspective of the citizens themselves like our two reactors, Atty. Amparita Sta.
Maria and Mr. Dante Jimenez. In fact, the perspective from another land – the land of the Koban policing
system – by Mr. Masakatsu Okabe will be very enriching.
Like all of you, I am here to learn.
Thank You Very Much.

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
By
Mr. Masakatsu OKABE
Police Superintendent, Deputy Director, Police Policy Research Center,
National Police Academy, Tokyo, JAPANI.

INTRODUCTION

Recently, public security in Japan has been severely challenged by the sudden increase of the number
of offenses.
For example, in 2000, the number of Penal Code offenses known to police was 2,443,470, whichshows a significant increase of 277,844 (12.8%) over the previous year. This is the highest level after WorldWar Two. On the other hand, the number of Penal Code offenses cleared in 2000 was 576,771, which showsa remarkable decrease of 154,513 (21.1%) from the previous year.
We can say that these circumstances threaten the myth that, “Japan is one of the safest countries in
the world”.
One of the important points in dealing with such a situation is community efficacy in the field of law
enforcement. Fortunately, in Japan, the Koban and Chuzaisho system has more than 100 years of history
and has played an important role for community involvement. Furthermore, in recent years (since 1992),
the Japanese police has reinforced the activities of “Community Police” including the Koban and Chuzaisho
system.
In this presentation, I would like to introduce briefly Community Police in Japan, particularly the
Koban and Chuzaisho system, and various crime prevention activities with community residents.

II.

OUTLINE OF THE JAPANESE POLICE

Before discussing this topic, I should first explain briefly about the Japanese police in order tofacilitate the understanding of my speech.
A.

Organization

With approximately 270,000 personnel, the Japanese police have an organizational structure
consisting of the National Police Agency (NPA) as the coordinating and policy-making body and 47
prefectural police forces as actual law enforcement units.
The Police Law stipulates that each prefectural government, a local autonomous entity, has its own
prefectural police which is empowered to carry out police duties such as “protecting life, person andproperty ” and “maintaining public safety and order” within its prefectural jurisdiction. The Police Law also
states that the national government shall set up a national police to the limited extent of national concerns.
In order to ensure political neutrality of police and to prevent government misuse of police powers, public
safety commissions are organized at both national and prefectural levels. These Commissions formulate
basic policy and regulations for police activities, and cannot supervise specific cases or law enforcement
activities.

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At prefectural level, prefectural public safety commissions and prefectural police headquarters (PPH)
including the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) are organized. Under the administrative
supervision of respective prefectural public safety commissions, the MPD and all the other PPHs undertake
each prefectural police operation. Prefectural police are independent of each other The biggest prefectural
police is MPD, which has about 40,000 police officers, and the smallest one is Tottori Police, which has
about 1,100 police officers.
The MPD and the PPHs divide their territory into districts, each of which comes under the jurisdictionof a police station. It is headed by a station chief under the command and control of the MPD’s
Superintendent General or the PPH’s chief. As a front line operational unit in each prefecture, the police
station carries out its duties in close contact with the local community.
Police boxes (Koban) and residential police boxes (Chuzaisho) are placed under the police station as
its subordinate units. They are located in a sub-devided jurisdiction of the police station as a base ofcommunity police activities and are playing the role of “Community Safety Centers” for local residents.
B.

Responsibilities

Police responsibilities under the Police Law include “protecting life, person and property of anindividual; preventing, suppressing and investigating crimes; apprehension of suspects; traffic enforcement;
maintaining public safety and order.”Therefore, the police is empowered to investigate all illegal acts and perform many administrative
activities to maintain public safety and order.
These administrative activities are based on the laws such as; Anti-Boryokudan Law, Road Traffic
Law, Entertainment Business Control Law, Private Business Security Law, Firearms and Swords Control
Law, etc.
Besides criminal investigations and administrative activities, the police conduct a wide variety ofactivities in close contact and relationship with local communities. I would like to introduce these activities
in the following chapters.

III.

COMMUNITY POLICE

Formerly, Community Police used to be called “Patrol Police” or “Outside Duty Police”. Since 1992,
we have used the name “Community Police” in order to clarify that the main duty is providing police
services to community residents.
The mission of Community Police is to secure the safety and peace of community life by not only
maintaining incessant vigilance but also coping promptly with every possible police matter in the daily lifeof community residents. In order to fulfill this mission, community police officers have to have a good graspof community and carry out activities in conformity with the opinions and requests of the community.
In other words, in addition to patrolling and taking primary measures to accidents and incidents, themain features of Community Police in Japan are;
• Service to the community in order to maintain the good relationship with community by grasping
the needs of residents• Supply the appropriate information about community safety— 38 —

Community police officers, the total number is approximately 85,000, maintain constant alert while
keeping in direct contact with citizens, day and night, everyday of the year. Through maintaining on-street
watch, patrolling neighborhoods and visiting homes, community police officers ensure the safety and peaceof community life by preventing crimes, arresting criminal suspects, controlling traffic, offering juvenile
guidance, protecting last children and drunks, counseling citizens in trouble, etc.
Basic units of Community Police are the Koban, Chuzaisho and patrol branch. The Japanese Police
consider Koban and Chuzaisho as “Community Safety Centers”, which are the fundamental and essential
units to secure the safety and peace of community life.
A.

Koban and Chuzaisho System

The Koban system has more than 100 years of history. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), that is tosay after the collapse of feudalism, the government established the Interior Ministry (1873) and the Tokyo
Metropolitan Police (1874), and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police established Koban-sho as subordinate unitsof police stations. However at the beginning, Koban-sho was just a specified geographical point where duty
officers were dispatched from police stations for standing watch in rotation. In 1881, construction of simple
facilities started. This is the origin of the Koban today.
The Chuzaisho system was established in the 1880s. Under the instruction of the Interior Ministry, a
police station divided its jurisdiction into a number of areas, and one or a few police officers were assigned
to each area. Their residences were named Chiuzaisho.
Koban-sho and Chuzaisho performed mainly administrative duties while keeping close relationshipwith community residents.
1.

OutlineThe Koban and Chuzaisho system consists of a police box (Koban) and a residential police box(Chuzaisho). These are subordinate organizational units of police stations. Under the supervision of the chiefof a police station, the chief of Community Police Affairs section takes direct charge of community police
in the jurisdiction and directs or supervises community police officers working for Kobans and Chuzaishos.
Kobans and Chuzaishos are established in each sub-area of the jurisdiction of a police station, which
is determined in consideration of day and night population, number of households, area, administrative area,
incidence of crimes, accidents, disasters, etc. There are about 14,700 Kobans and Chuzaishos established allover the country. About 6,600 kobans are established in urban areas where the incidence of crimes andaccidents is relatively high, and 8,100 Chuzaishos are located primarily in such non-urban areas asagricultural, forestry and fishery towns. Kobans and Chuzaishos take primary responsibility for the public
safety of the area where it covers.
Kobans are headed by a police assistant inspector or a police sergent and are manned 24 hours a day
by a team of officers (generally with three or more) assigned to the duty in three shifts. The three-shiftsystem is:• Full-day duty (from morning to the next morning)• Off duty (the day following a full-day duty)• Day-duty (from morning to evening)
Each Chuzaisho is manned by one resident officer who lives with his family in the attached quarter.
At the Chuzaisho, the wife of the officer helps his husband in his duties. When he is out of the Chuzaisho,handling a crime case or a traffic accident or on patrol, she helps her husband’s duty and thus gains citizens’— 39 —

trust in the police activities. She shows the way to people, handles lost and found properties, and when she
receives a crime or accident report, notifies the police station of necessary information precisely.
2.

Activities as “Community Safety Centers”(i) Vigilance at Police Box
Vigilance at police boxes is maintained by standing watch in front of the police box or sitting
watch from its inside, enabling them to respond immediately to any incident. While keeping anincessant watch, they perform a wide variety of routine assignments such as receiving crime reports
from citizens, handling lost-and-found articles, counseling citizens in trouble, giving directions, etc.
(ii) Patrol
Police officers carry out their duties outside police boxes by patrolling their beats either on foot,by bicycle or by car. They gain a precise knowledge of topography and terrain features of the area, as
well as carry out police questioning against suspicious-looking persons to prevent possible crimes,
provide traffic guidance and enforcement, instruct juveniles, rescue the injured, warn citizens ofimminent dangers, protect lost children and drunks, etc.
In 2000, community police officers on patrol arrested 2,401 suspects, 32.1% of the total of 4,488
arrested for serious crime (i.e., murder, armed robbery, arson, rape, abduction, kidnapping and sexualassault).
(iii) “Routine Visits” to Homes and Work Places
Community police officers assigned to a police box periodically make a routine visit to houses
and offices on their beats to give advice on the prevention of crimes and accidents as well as to listen
to resident’s troubles and requests for the purpose of reflecting such views in police operation.
During these visits, they also inquire about the family composition and how the resident could
be reached in an emergency. These data are utilized for emergency contacts in case of disaster or
accident and for guidance for prevention of accidents.
At the time of the Hanshin/Awaji great earthquake (1995), routine visits were very helpful in the
rescue of the missing and others and in ascertaining the people’s whereabouts.
(iv) Handling of Lost Articles
The acceptance of reports of lost and found articles for the purpose of finding such articles andhanding them back to their rightful owners without delay is an important duty of community police
officers.
In 2000, the police handled about 317 million reports of lost articles (some 417 billion yen in
cash and about 666 million articles). Reports of found articles totaled some 470 million (131 billion
yen in cash and 914 million articles). A total of 71% of the cash and 32% of the articles found wereclaimed by and returned to their owners.
(v) Publication of Information Pamphlets
The majority of police boxes are issuing newsletters that usually bear titles reflecting a wellknown location or famous landmark in the community. These newsletters are home-made by— 40 —

community police officers for local distribution. They carry news and reports on crimes and accidents
that occurred in their jurisdiction and measures taken to prevent them, articles about children’s good
conducts, community opinions, etc.
These “Koban newsletters” are popular and are playing an important role in promoting friendly
contact between the police and the community.
3.

Improving the Koban’s Ability as “Community Safety Centers”(i) Koban Chief System and Bloc Operation of Koban
Officers assigned to police boxes work on a daily bass under the Koban-shocho or police box
chief; who works on a daily basis to supervise and unify his Koban duties. This system is designed formonitoring requests of community residents systematically by preventing communication errors
between different working shift teams.
In order to promote flexible police activities reflecting characteristics of each community suchas daytime population and crime rates, a system of Bloc Operation has been introduced to carry out
joint patrols and other joint operations among two or more Kobans.
(ii) Assignment of Koban Consultants
Retired police officers who work as Koban Consultants are assigned to major urban police boxes.
They give advice on problems for residents or hear requests from them, receive reports on lost andfound articles and handle reports of crimes and accidents. Therefore, these Koban consultants provide
adequate administrative services to visitors even while police officers are out of police boxes.
(iii) Koban and Chuzaisho Liaison Councils
With a view to creating communities free from crime, accident and disaster through joint
community efforts, the Japanese police is trying to carry out police activities close to the communities.
For this purpose, Koban and Chuzaisho Liaison Councils are established, which are made up ofcommunity residents, to hear residents’ requests and opinions and discuss with them what to do about
the problem of the community.
As at the end of 2000, there were 13,747 liaison councils throughout the country.
(iv) Improvements in Facilities and Equipment of Police Box“Community Rooms” have been established at Kobans where community residents can consult
police and meet to discuss crime prevention.
A “hotline” is installed at each Koban, so that a visitor can easily call the police station evenwhen no police officers are available there.
B.

Activities to Protect and Help Community Residents

1.

Consultation Service for Community Residents
The police have promoted counseling systems in trying to respond to complaints, troubles andvarious other needs of community residents. Currently, efforts are under way at every prefectural police
headquarters and police station.

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Since 2000, this consultation service has been called Police Security Consultation.
During 2000, the number of community residents who went to the police for counseling was
744,453. This was a remarkable increase of 400,880 (117%) from the preceding year.
2.

Activities to Protect Women and Children(i) Police Coordinate Efforts with Volunteers and Local Governments in Protecting Women and Children
The police are directing their efforts to the protection of women and children from snatchingpossessions, sexual assault, kidnapping, and other criminal offenses. For example, the police inform thecommunities of the locations and times of the day that such offenses are likely to occur and of themethods the offenders are likely to use. The police patrol such places and times intensively and also
hold meetings for community residents on the techniques of self-defense and use of devices to foil
criminal attempts (like potable buzzers, etc.).
The police have also been supporting the activities of “Children’s 110 House” by having storesand homes along the school way, where children can ask for help in case of emergency.
(ii) Police Activities for Offenses of Stalking, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
Stalking, child abuse and domestic violence have recently led to murders or other serious crimes
assuming the magnitude of a social issue. The police take necessary action on the detection of theseincidents, arresting the offenders when their cases violate the law, and even when the incidents
constitute no criminal offense, the police take retraining steps like a warning.
The Law to Control Stalking was enacted in May 2000, the Law to Prevent Child Abuse in
October 2000 and the Law to Prevent Domestic Violence in April 2001. The police will properly
enforce these laws with various administrative measures like a warning or a cessation order, etc.
3.

Finding and Protecting Runaways, Missing People, Etc.
The police put into protective custody the drunk, lost children and others requiring emergency
protection. A total of 191,151 persons were taken into protective custody in 2000.
The police also take special efforts to locate and put into protective custody runaways, especiallythose runaways who are liable to be involved in criminal offenses or to commit suicide. In 2000, thepolice received 97,268 search requests, and found 87,227 persons.

C.

Communications Command System Emergency Call “Dial 110”1.

Communications Command CenterTo swiftly and certainly process dial calls and other emergency calls about crimes and accidents, thepolice have installed a communications command center at each prefectural police headquarters. The center
plays a pivotal role in initial stage police operations with their staff working in shifts on standby day andnight.
2.

Highlight of Communications Command System

Upon receipt of a Dial 110 call, the communications command center instructs patrol cars and officers
at police boxes to rush to the scene of a crime or accident for the purpose of promptly arresting suspects or— 42 —

rescuing victims. When a serious criminal offense breaks out, the center issues an emergency deployment
order, where necessary, to arrest suspects quickly and collect materials for post-offense investigation. Uponthe emergency deployment order, community police officers are concertedly mobilized, regardless of theirnormal shifts of duty, to man checkpoints as well as to conduct searches, stakeouts and surveillance. Whenthe situation demands, the center may issue the wide-area emergency deployment order beyond theprefectural borders in collaboration with neighboring prefectural police headquarters.

IV.

CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES WITH COMMUNITY RESIDENTS

The police are working with community residents for crime prevention (including the prevention ofjuvenile delinquency). This includes organizing crime prevention groups within communities and places ofwork, and giving them advice from the point of view of the crime prevention.
A.

Building Crime-Free Communities

1.

Promoting Safe Communities

Roads, parks and other public facilities and collective housing units have been increasingly the scenesof criminal offenses in recent years. The police are coordinating with local governments to develop roads
and parks kept highly visible throughout and with equipments like street-lights to keep out crime.
2.

Measures to Prevent Theft of Cars, Motorcycles and Bicycles

There are numerous thefts of automobiles, motorcycles and bicycles, and they accounted for about
31% of all known crimes. They are most likely to affect community residents.
As a measure to prevent car theft, the police are conducting a publicity campaign calling on users tokeep their vehicles locked when they leave the vehicles and to take other precautionary measures. Also thepolice have called on related industries to develop and diffuse theft-preventing devices, and to equip car
parks with monitoring cameras.
For the prevention of motorcycle and bicycle theft, police are studying stronger handle-bar locking
in cooperation with the Japan Association for Crime Prevention Facilities and the development of strong
wire locks. The police has also developed a “crime prevention registration system” for motorcycles andbicycles.
3.

Measures to Prevent Crimes against Banks, etc.

The police hold liaison meetings with financial institutions and conduct crime prevention drills on theprevention of robberies and other criminal offenses. Police guidance has been given to supermarkets(especially those which are open till late at night) urging them to organize voluntary crime-prevention
associations, and to check and improve anti-burglary equipment.

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B.

Community Safety Activities by Community Residents

1.

Community Safety Activities by Community Residents mainly through Crime Prevention
Associations

The purpose of Community Safety Activities is to create a community that is safe and comfortable
to live in, by preventing and restoring damages from crimes, accidents and disasters.
Community residents, police and local governments coordinate their efforts to promote crime
prevention activities on the initiative of Crime Prevention Associations. The following are their major
activities:• publishing the Community Safety News to supply each community with relevant information• patrolling potentially dangerous places such as poorly lit areas and unoccupied buildings
2.

Activities of Crime Prevention Organizations at Places of Work

The types of business which are liable to become crime victims or easily used for crimes (e.g.,entertainment business) have formed crime prevention organizations. Their volunteer activities to securecommunity safety are well under way.
“Nationwide Community Safety Campaign”
The police carry out a Nationwide Community Safety Campaign every year in close
partnership with crime prevention associations and other concerned organizations across the country.
Through this campaign, a variety of community safety activities based on local conditions werecarried out, including the prevention of snatching and other offenses frequenting the neighborhoods.
C.

Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency

1.

Juvenile Support Center

Each prefectural police has established a Juvenile Support Center. The role is to give advice andguidance to juveniles and their parents, and provide better aid to juvenile victims who are suffering fromemotional or physical damage. Juvenile Support Centers run their activities in corporation with community
groups like schools, parents, volunteers, local governments, etc.
2.

Preventing Drug Abuse by Juveniles
The police send police officers to schools in order to hold classes for the prevention of drug abuse.

In 2000, such classes were held at 3,679 (67.2% of tile total) senior high schools and 6,266 (55.9%)
junior high schools.
3.

Cleansing the Community Environment Surrounding Juveniles

The police have been trying to control commercial sexual exploitation (such as telephone clubs),
suppress the kind of information harmful to youths (like magazines, videotapes, computer softwares, etc.
which carry excessive descriptions of sex or violence), clean up the social environment encouraging
juveniles to stay out of home late at night (like karaoke-boxes) and protect juveniles from influences of
Boryokudan (Yakuza, Japanese mafia).

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4.

Juveniles’ Participation in Social and Sports Activities

While cooperating with the relevant agencies, organizations and communities, the police give various
support to enable juveniles to participate in social activities. For example, cleaning up the environment,
promoting social welfare, conserving cultural traditions, participation in local industrial production.
With regard to sports activities, the police hold classes of judo and kendo for juveniles from thecommunity. In 2000, about 52,000 juveniles participated in such classes at about 850 police stations.
D.

Crime Prevention and Private Security (Security Business)

In proportion to the rising public awareness and need for security, the private security business hasachieved a successful growth. As at the end of 2000, the number of security companies totaled 9,900, with
422,851 security guards.
The police provide security companies with guidance and supervision based on the Private Security
Business Law. This is aimed at the sound growth of the security business by instructing them to operate
their business properly and carry out crime prevention activities effectively.
The security business covers a broad range of activities, including safeguarding homes, various
facilities and traffic guidance at construction sites, control of crowds at events, guarding the transport ofcash, and bodyguard work. Recent years have seen the steady growth of mechanized guarding, particularly
the home security system that installs sensors at private homes and business establishments to monitor andprevent crimes and accidents.

V.

CONCLUSION

This presentation has sketched only the outline of Japanese police activities for community
involvement. This is just one aspect of wide-ranging police activities.
The community efficacy and the community involvement for security are getting more important in
the world, such as Community Policing in the United States, Local Contract of Security in France, etc.
I hope that this paper helps you understand the efforts of the Japanese police in community
involvement and the important role of community for security. The police cannot prevent crime alone andit is inevitable that the cooperation of the community is required. One of the important functions of thepolice is to support the autonomy of community residents for their own security.

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REACTION
By
Ms. Amparita S. Sta. MARIA,
Attorney,
Ateneo Law School

This is the picture of our community today. We are not anymore sure if we will allow our children
to roam freely on the streets. Women are also especially vulnerable to violence.
The description of a safe place or a safe community which both our speakers have talked about and,especially as articulated by Director General Mendoza is about citizens who are responsive and courageous
to remain eternally vigilant and unafraid. Citizens who are trusting enough to trust the police where crime
is prevented or, if crime is committed, criminals are apprehended, charged and convicted. It’s like an
impossible dream to me. It's like talking about a utopia. Of course, we all want that, why not. So why is itthat our country and some of the other countries seem now to be a less place to live. There is also anapparent decline to trust our institutions in charge of our safety and security. I think we must examine why
the community has been dormant.
I would just like to share with you a brief result of our research a couple of months ago which isactually a product of a two-year research. Like General Mendoza said, he is coming from the perspectiveof law enforcement. This is another view, limited as it is I think, it is also a reflection of a part of the realityof the community.
We interviewed law enforcers, judges, prosecutors and also victims of cases where the accused wasin a government office or is a person in authority. Again, I must emphasize that this is not the entire reality,
but I think part of it is true and I think it may offer some explanations and shed light on why the community
has become so. As regards law enforcement which I would just focus on, the findings were that the people
did not trust law enforcement because they perceive the people from the law enforcement themselves asvulnerable to pressure from within their own ranks and also outside of course, politics. There is a perceptionthat they are incapable of protecting the victims, if they too can be pressured or subjected to influence.
Second is that, even if they are capable of protecting the victims, there is a tendency to close ranks andprotect their own. The feeling is that the victim is up against an entire system. The third is, if the law
enforcer is the perpetrator himself or herself, there is a great feeling of fear of reprisal. Fear of reprisal has
been very dominant in our study, mentioned by both law enforcers, prosecutors and even the judges.
Although this may only be a perception of the victims, there is also an agreement that in these cases, theaccused had the ability to actualize threats made by him or by her. This fear of reprisal even cuts acrosspolitical and economic strata of the community so there is fear of reprisal when it comes to families who
are well-off or those who have become victims of crimes which are not politically motivated. This has
translated to reluctance to cooperate with authorities, reluctance to complain cases and reluctance to pursue
and sustain them until the end. And this is aggravated by the lack of resources to go on with the trial becauseof delay which has also been identified as the common result of the pressure exerted by the accused.
Delays can be costly and disruptive of daily works. People belonging in a community who have todepend on wages done on a daily basis would not possibly afford to miss so many workdays and this iswhere delays in the process can do the most damage. Eventually the victim desists or simply resigns to theidea that he or she cannot access our justice system. Thus, the value system of the community will have a
lot to do with regard to the manner by which it has perceived certain institutions of government, for instance,in relation to the remedies available to it. I think this is the contextual scenario which can be offered as one— 46 —

explanation as to why there is a prevailing apathy and complacency that individuals and community havecome to feel toward the other pillars of justice.
The inaccessibility of the justice system is a serious problem. It is one thing to provide the frameworkor the fundamental law that every citizen would have the right to access full legal assistance or that thevictim would have access to any form of available legal remedies. And it is another to say whether he or
she could, in fact, successfully avail of it. It is true that any initiative or program designed for the safety,
security and, in general for the well-being of society must be supported and implemented not only of thelaw enforcement but most especially, it must be supported and participated in by the community. We mustnot be remiss of the fact that the community or society's perception of law enforcers, prosecutors and judges
and the institutions we identify as the criminal justice system has now deteriorated over the years and that
this now plays a major role on how responsive and cooperative the community will actually be in any suchinitiative.
The level of trust we pose upon our institutions of government which are deemed crucial in
addressing the problem of injustice has not been very encouraging. Corruption and abuse of power, theinability to stand up against pressure or undue influence whether actual or perceived, have put a tremendous
strain on the relationship between law enforcers and the citizens, such that some of them have chosen thepath of non-involvement, complacency and resignation just to buy peace, unprincipled as it may be. And
for us civil society, this is a very disturbing situation. I know that this is not the right path, and if the criminal
justice system fails, the community would not be blameless. I am not apologizing for its inaction, but if thelaw enforcement as an institution would want to help the community reveal itself as a proactive andresponsive partner in making the justice system work, then there must be a realistic understanding of where
the people are coming from, what are they feeling, and an appreciation of their experiences, past or present
regarding accessing justice.
This seminar can hopefully be a venue for both institutions to trade best practices and in the end, thecommunity will come to care again and view itself as a stakeholder, as having a share in promoting justiceand peace. It is not too late for members of the community to be able to trust our institutions again, and I
am speaking for those who have no such trust, especially towards the law enforcement, and to have morefaith in the criminal justice system. And I am referring to those whose faith has been slowly fading and toremain hopeful and optimistic which I hope is the majority of the members of the community. That together,
we can make this country a safer and better place to live in. In the end, although the community is not paid
to be responsible and accountable, I think it has no choice, but to be responsible and accountable because
if it does not, it will ultimately pay the price for its apathy, non-involvement and complacency and because
it is the only path to having a life with dignity, integrity and principled peace. This kind of life that we will
hope to have and we will be proud to pass on to our children's children.
This is just my short reaction, and I hope I have given, limited as it is, another perspective on
community involvement and where they are coming from and why it has chose in some instances, the pathof silence.

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