Section 5: General Approaches for the Protection of Children, Women and the Elderly

1 Creating a Society that Protects Children, Women and the Elderly

(1) Promotion of crime prevention through environment design (CPTED)

NPA Awareness Survey, indicates that in an effort to reduce crimes related to children, women and elderly people, police are needed to take measures for crime prevention through environment design (CPTED) such as “creating crime-preventive environment by improving the visibility of dark places”, installation of street security cameras”.

Police, in cooperation with local authorities, enterprises, and local residences, are promoting CPTED by incorporating the structures and facilities that enhance crime prevention in roads, parks, and commercial zones. Specifically, some examples include the placement of emergency call devices in the streets for commuters and children, the installation of street security cameras and the removal of illegal advertisements in the commercial zones, the installation of street lighting in the roads, parks and parking lots, and the pruning of plants to improve visibility.

Case: In October 2011, Adachi-ku, a ward of Tokyo, established “the certified crime prevention design town system”. Based on its unique guideline made through the cooperation of experts and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Adachi-ku evaluates and certifies the quality of crime prevention of a town as a whole that includes the houses and related facilities. The criteria of the guideline includes, with a view to enhance the sustainability of the safety and security of town, the planning of roads, parks and crime-prevention facilities, and the rules for the voluntary activities of the residents such as the establishment of town councils or residents’ associations, and the rule-setting for night-time lighting and gate lighting. In addition, in the certified town, patrol activity in cooperation with MPD is considerably enhanced in an effort to support the activity of the residents.

Crime Prevent Design Town certification mark

(2) Realizing a safe and secure society through the participation of various bodies

Through policies such as “Creation of a Crime Resistant Society” and “Safe/secure town development”, police, local residents and other locals are engaged in mutual cooperation in an approach to ensure social safety and security through the implementation of participatory crime prevention activities, etc. Of these activities, many are related to the protection of children, women and the elderly, such as activities to watch over children, activities to prevent sexual crimes and home visits to the residences of elderly persons.

Approaches such as those mentioned above, which involve the participation of various bodies, embeds in society the correct awareness in relation to the importance of “safety” as a foundation of society as well as establishing the basis of security and inducing further participation in activities, and are effective means of realizing a safe and secure society. Consequently, police are implementing activities to explain the importance of crime prevention activities, developing networks and providing information, etc. to ensure that such approaches become sustainable through the participation of various bodies.

Column: Safe community activities in Toshima-ku, Tokyo

The safe community activities implemented in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, are famous examples of comprehensive approaches that aim to ensure social safety and security.

Under the guiding principle that “injuries and accidents aren’t the results of coincidences and can be prevented if the causes are identified”, these safe community activities are town development activities for which certification systems under the World Health Organization (WHO) have been established, that heighten the quality of safety and well-being.

In the case of approaches undertaken in Toshima-ku, many agencies are promoting policies to eradicate crimes such as child abuse or spousal violence, in accordance with the “No Abuse or Violence Town Development Declaration”, and along with enforcement against crime, police are also providing information and implementing training programs, etc.

## 2 Enhancement and reinforcement of police counseling services

With many citizens feeling anxious about public safety, police are providing counseling to citizens in relation to various crimes and accidents. The number of counseling cases undertaken by police in 2012 was 1,553,189, an