under their jurisdiction as well as to grasp and respond to the needs of the residents. These efforts are being made through various activities including neighborhood patrols and routine visits to homes. In addition, by constantly maintaining security day and night and through activities in response to various police matters, koban and chuzaisho serve to dispel unease among the Japanese people by functioning as a foothold for the safety and security of community residents.

As of 1 April 2009, there were 6,216 kobans and 6,926 chuzaishos nationwide.

## (1) Patrol, Standing Watches etc

## 1 ) Patrols

In response to the people’s requests to reinforce patrols, community police officers are focusing patrols on the areas and at times of the day when crime rates are high in order to prevent crimes or accidents as well as to crackdown criminals. During patrols, police officers undertake activities including the questioning of suspicious individuals, becoming familiar with dangerous areas, conducting crime prevention counseling for families and businesses situated in the areas of high crime and distributing information through patrol cards.

## 2 ) Vigilance through Standing Watches, etc

Community police stand watch outside kobans, chuzaishos, and other facilities as a safety measure. Additional measures include stationed watches conducted at regular intervals in key locations where person concentrate, such as stations or major traffic areas, and locations with high crime rates.

## 3 ) Enhancing the Performance of Duties

In order to bolster community police officers' work performance, in addition to implementing education and training aimed at improving questioning, and documentation, and similar skills, individuals with excellent interrogative skills are selected and appointed as senior technical supervisors by the NPA or as technical supervisors of interrogation by Prefectural Police and given the responsibility of training instructors of interrogation to improve the skills of community police officers as a whole.

In 2008, the number of persons arrested by community police officers for Penal Code offenses was 290,364, 85.5% of the total number of persons arrested for Penal Code offenses by the police.

## 4 ) Utilizing the Koban Counselors

As of 1 April 2009, approximately 6,200 koban counselors have been assigned to work in major kobans in urban areas nationwide. The koban counselor does not possess the status of a police officer and works on a part-time basis. Counselors are responsible for contacting police officers in the event of a crime or accident, listening to the resident's opinion and requests, receiving reports on lost and found articles, writing and receiving complaints, and giving directions. Many of them are retired police officers with the knowledge and experience gained therein.

## (2) Activities in Cooperation with the Local Communities

## 1 ) Routine Visits to Homes

The community police officers make routine visits to places such as houses and offices in their assigned areas in order to prevent such events as crime, traffic accidents, and disasters, as well as to provide local residents with guidance or information on important items and listen to their opinions and requests to ensure they have a safe and peaceable lifestyle.

## 2 ) Koban and Chuzaisho Liaison Councils

Koban and chuzaisho liaison councils are in place at 13,696 kobans and chuzaishos nationwide as of the end of 2009. There, community officers cooperate with the local community to prevent crimes and accidents by discussing issues related to community security and listening to the opinions and requests local residents have for the police.

## 3 ) Information dissemination activities

Community officers are creating a “mini newsletter” noting various events that happen in daily life in the community and the situation on incidents and accidents. Through activities such as circulating the newsletter via neighborhood associations, community officers convey information on what is happening in their jurisdiction that is relevant to the local residents such as the situation on incidents and accidents as well as how to prevent them.

## (3) Strengthening the Functions of Kobans

In order to resolve the issue of the emergence of numerous “empty kobans” $ ^{1} $ where no police officers are present, measures were implemented with the understanding of community residents and by 1 April 2007 “empty kobans” were eliminated. The police are continuing to strengthen the functions of kobans to deal with future changes in public security, as well as to prevent the reoccurrence of “empty kobans”.