## 2 ) Disaster victim rescue operations

The greatest duty of the police directly after a disaster strikes is the rescue of victims.

During the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake there was a high risk of the occurrence of secondary disasters. When a bridge over a national highway collapsed during a rescue operation, leaving homeless approximately 40 residents of Ichinoseki City in Iwate Prefecture, the Interprefectural Emergency Rescue Unit Police Team of Rescue Experts was quick to dispatch a helicopter and cooperate with relevant organizations to save all 40 people.

Rescue operations are often carried out by the community police officers of koban and chuzaisho, people who are closer to the residents of the regions they serve than other members of the force. In The Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu-oki Earthquake in July 2007 a police officer of a chuzaisho rescued a man from the rubble of a collapsed building.

Outside of natural disasters as well, the police view it as common sense that they must work to save victims from such events as when a JR West Fukuchiyama line train crashed in April 2005, causing a pile-up of motor vehicles which pushed up against an apartment complex. At that time the Interprefectural Emergency Rescue Unit Police Team of Rescue Experts acted to remove cars while preventing the collapse of the apartment complex.

## 3 ) Transportation countermeasures / crime-prevention activities

The police work to comprehend the situation of roads and place roadblocks on dangerous roads and those that cannot be traversed. Additionally, the police secure evacuation routes and emergency transportation routes for disaster area residents and conduct traffic control as needed. Furthermore, in order to prevent the pillaging of abandoned houses and shopping districts after a disaster, the police bolster patrols of disaster-stricken areas and periodically make their way around evacuation zones.

In the month and a half immediately following the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake the police expended every effort to secure the safety and peace of mind of disaster area residents by implementing transportation countermeasures and crime-prevention activities.

## 4 ) Disaster Victim Support

In order to expend every effort to support as much as possible the victims of disaster who have fled from their homes, the police organize disaster victim support teams around female lieutenants to establish contact points where victims can consult about evacuation zones.

Building on the activities of the Chrysanthemum Patrol Unit during the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, during the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake the Miyagi Prefectural Police formed the Kurikoma Rhododendron Unit and the Iwate Prefecture Police formed the Ihatov Unit to support disaster victims in evacuation zones.

## 5 ) Communication measures

It is vital that channels of communication be established between the Chief of Police Headquarters and local police officials during times of large-scale disasters in order to comprehend the situation on the ground and effectively implement commands, orders, and reports. A mobile police info-communications unit $ ^{1} $ has been established in each prefectural info-communications department to implement necessary communications measures quickly during times of disaster. The units do such things as set up wireless internet facilities and send out broadcasts of the footage of the disaster-stricken area using satellite communications vehicles.

During the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake, starting from the prefectures the earthquake directly affected, neighboring prefectures and the regional police bureaus of Tohoku and Kanto sent out mobile police info-communications units which secured wireless connections in mountainous regions and broadcast the situation in the affected areas in real-time to the Chief of Police Headquarters, the NPA, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

Note 1: Regional Police Bureau Info-Communications Department, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Info-Communications Department, Hokkaido Police Info-Communications Department, Prefectural (Area) Info-Communications Department, and Miyagi Prefecture Wakayanagi Community Policy Affairs Division

## (3) Preparing for disaster

We never know where and when a disaster may strike, and furthermore, the type, scale, time and location of the disaster greatly affects the amount of damage it causes. The police are learning from the lessons of the past to respond even quicker and more assuredly to any type of disaster in the future. Disaster prevention plans have been established and the police are carrying out session after session of field exercises which utilize a multitude of scenarios. The police are building a system of preparedness against disasters.

Furthermore, through everyday police activities the