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Police Roles in Crime Prevention - Problems and Possible Solutions in Japan and the United States - Seminar Report

NCJ Number
77252
Author(s)
T Platek
Date Published
1978
Length
39 pages
Annotation
A summary of a 1-day seminar focusing on police roles in crime prevention, presented in October 1978, emphasizes the successful Japanese experience with policing and possible applications in the United States.
Abstract
Topics addressed during the seminar included comparison of Japanese and American societies, the police role in crime prevention, police in community, the policeman as an individual, the police role in judicial enforcement of the law, law enforcement in Japan, American police reform, and a brief history of the Japanese police. Highlights of the workshops are also included. It is emphasized that although the two societies are similar in industrial and political structures, in the realm of crime they are dramatically different. The population of Japan is approximately one-half that of the United States, but the incidence of crime is only one-quarter. In America, rape and murder occur eight times as often as in Japan. Robbery occurs 100 times as often. It is suggested that the success of Japanese police in involving the community in the prevention and solution of crime has come about because no sharp division exists between the roles of police and citizens for this purpose. Although the techniques used by Japanese police in exploiting cultural values are not directly transferable to American police, the basic principles upon which those tecniques are founded are not culture-bound and are therefore adaptable. For example, the network of informal sanctions in Japan, such as pressure from family, school, and community is highly effective in crime prevention. Crime prevention as a community effort and citizen participation in policing are key elements that are missing from the American system. No references are cited.