TDS: Shoudai's Past
Various notes on holy jesus what does this guy know. :|
KOBAN
Kōbans are substations near major transportation hubs and shopping areas and in residential districts-form the first line of police response to the public. The Koban system is composed of about 6000 police boxes (Koban) and about 7000 residential police boxes (Chuzaisho). Koban is staffed by relatively small number of police officers (3-5 officers in usual), and also Chuzaisho is usually staffed by a single officer. About 20 percent of the total police force is assigned to koban. Staffed by officers working in eight-hour shifts, they serve as a base for foot patrols and usually have both sleeping and eating facilities for officers on duty but not on watch. In rural areas, residential offices usually are staffed by one police officer who resides in adjacent family quarters. These officers endeavor to become a part of the community, and their families often aid in performing official tasks.
Vigilance at the Koban and Chuzaisho is maintained by standing watch in front or sitting watch inside, enabling police officers to respond immediately to any incident. While keeping a constant watch, they perform a myriad of routine tasks, such as receiving crime reports from citizens, handling lost and found articles, counseling citizens in trouble and giving directions.
Outside their Koban and Chuzaisho, police officers patrol their beats either on foot, by bicycle or by car. While on patrol, they gain a precise knowledge of the topography and terrain of the area, question suspicious-looking persons, provide traffic guidance and enforcement, instruct juveniles, rescue the injured, warn citizens of imminent dangers and protect lost children and those under the influence or intoxicated.
Radio-equipped patrol cars are deployed at each PPH, police station, Koban and Chuzaisho. Police officers use them for routine patrol and rapid response. These cars remain in constant radio contact with their police station and the communications command center of the PPH. When an emergency is reported, this rapid response capability plays a major role in the quick resolution of such incidents.
Officers assigned to koban have intimate knowledge of their jurisdictions. One of their primary tasks is to conduct twice-yearly house-by-house residential surveys of homes in their areas, at which time the head of the household at each address fills out a residence information card detailing the names, ages, occupations, business addresses, and vehicle registration numbers of household occupants and the names of relatives living elsewhere. Police take special note of names of the aged or those living alone who might need special attention in an emergency. They conduct surveys of local businesses and record employee names and addresses, in addition to such data as which establishments stay open late and which employees might be expected to work late. Participation in the survey is voluntary, and most citizens cooperate, but an increasing segment of the population has come to regard the surveys as invasions of privacy.
Information elicited through the surveys is not centralized but is stored in each police box, where it is used primarily as an aid to locating people. When a crime occurs or an investigation is under way, however, these files are invaluable in establishing background data for a case. Specialists from district police stations spend considerable time culling through the usually poorly filed data maintained in the police boxes.
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
Education is highly stressed in police recruitment and promotion. Entrance to the force is determined by examinations administered by each prefecture. Examinees are divided into two groups: upper-secondary-school graduates and university graduates. Recruits underwent rigorous training-one year for upper-secondary school graduates and six months for university graduates-at the residential police academy attached to the prefectural headquarters. On completion of basic training, most police officers are assigned to local police boxes called Kobans. Promotion is achieved by examination and requires further course work. In-service training provides mandatory continuing education in more than 100 fields. Police officers with upper-secondary school diplomas are eligible to take the examination for sergeant after three years of on-the-job experience. University graduates can take the examination after only one year. University graduates are also eligible to take the examination for assistant police inspector, police inspector, and superintendent after shorter periods than upper-secondary school graduates. There are usually five to fifteen examinees for each opening.
About fifteen officers per year pass advanced civil service examinations and are admitted as senior officers. Officers are groomed for administrative positions, and, although some rise through the ranks to become senior administrators, most such positions are held by specially recruited senior executives.
http://www.npa.go.jp/english/kokusai9/WHITE_PAPER_on_POLICE2009.htm
http://www.npa.go.jp/english/kokusai/Contents.htm
http://www.iej.uem.br/police.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+police+training&hl=en&rlz=1C1LAVG_enUS407US407&prmd=ivns&ei=hYlxTdnSOIyt8AaN1YjGDw&start=10&sa=N
http://askville.amazon.com/martial-art-Japanese-Police-Force-utilize/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=6658629
http://www.e-budo.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-7025.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Police_Department_Public_Security_Bureau
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1LAVG_enUS407US407&q=japanese+police+weapons&revid=210486548&sa=X&ei=dolxTYf8E8T58AbBgMXoDg&ved=0CKYBENUCKAM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_rank
http://www.cheshirect.org/police/programstraining.html
http://criminaljustice.careeredublogs.com/training-required-for-becoming-a-police-officer/
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm
http://www.debito.org/?cat=10