In the law enforcement system in Japan, are prefecture-level law enforcement agencies responsible for policing, law enforcement, and public security within their respective prefectures of Japan. Although prefectural police are, in principle, regarded as municipal police, they are mostly under the central oversight and control of the National Police Agency.
As of 2020, the total strength of the prefectural police is approximately 260,000 sworn officers and 28,400 civilian staff, a total of 288,400 employees.
History
In the Empire of Japan, territorial police forces were organised as . They were placed under complete centralized control, with the of the Home Ministry at their core.
After the surrender of Japan, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers regarded this centralized police system as undemocratic. During the occupation of Japan, the principle of decentralisation was introduced by the 1947 (now commonly referred to as "Old Police Law"). Cities and large towns had their own , and the was responsible for smaller towns, villages and rural areas. However, most Japanese municipalities were too small to have an effectively large police force, so sometimes they were unable to deal with large-scale violence. In addition, excessive fragmentation of the police organisation reduced the efficiency of police activities.
As a response to these problems, complete restructuring created a more centralized system under the 1954 amended . All operational units except for the Imperial Guard were reorganized into the prefectural police departments for each prefecture and the National Police Agency was established as the central coordinating agency for these police departments.
Organisation Each prefectural police department comprises a police authority and operational units: Prefectural Public Safety Commissions (PPSC) and Prefectural Police Headquarters (PPH).
Prefectural Public Safety Commission
are administrative committees established under the jurisdiction of prefectural governors to provide citizen oversight for police activities. A committee consists of three members in an ordinary prefecture and five members in urban prefectures. The members of prefectural public safety commission are appointed by the governor with the consent of the prefectural assembly.
Prefectural Police Headquarters
In Tokyo, the specifically refers to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Also, Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters is known as , and those in Ōsaka and Kyoto Prefectures are known as , and are distinguished from other .
The are appointed officials at the top of the chain of command in each Prefectural Police Headquarters. In the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the name of is used.
These police departments are responsible for every police actions within their jurisdiction in principle, but most important activities are regulated by the National Police Agency. Police officers whose rank are higher than are salaried by the national budget even if they belong to local police departments. Designation and dismissal of these high-ranking officers are delegated to the National Public Safety Commission.
Each Prefectural police headquarters contains administrative departments (bureaus in the TMPD) corresponding to those of the bureaus of the National Police Agency as follows:
In addition, urban prefectural police departments comprise a and a .
There are some 289,000 police officers nationwide, about 97% of whom were affiliated with Prefectural Police Headquarters.
Community policing
In the Japanese police, community policing is treated as being close to crime prevention, and in rural prefectural police, community safety departments in charge of crime prevention sometimes concurrently handle community policing. Community policing officers are organised into several . Each station includes the following sections:
Officers of the community police affairs sections are distributed in their jurisdictions, working at police boxes, , radio mobile patrols, etc.
These community policing officers are supported by the community police department or the community safety department of the prefectural police headquarters. In addition to the administration of the police radio networks, they provide inter-regional patrol units and air support: and a , and many other assets.
Traffic policing
Originally traffic policing was mainly done by community policing officers. However, with the progress of motorization since the 1950s, traffic accidents have increased dramatically, resulting in the so-called traffic war, the system of traffic police was also strengthened.
From the mid-1960s, mobile patrol units were installed at several PPHs, and in 1972 they were installed at all traffic departments of the PPHs as . Traffic cars (including unmarked cars) and police motorcycles are deployed in these units. And as the development of the expressway advanced, the establishment of the was also decided in 1971.
Criminal investigation
In the Empire of Japan, the criminal investigation was presided over by prosecutors, like the ministère public does in French law. With the 1947 Police Law () and the 1948 Code of Criminal Procedure (), the responsibility of investigation has been defined to be uniquely assigned to police officers. In order to fulfil this responsibility, criminal investigation departments or criminal investigation bureaus (judiciary police) were set up in each police organisation. After the establishment of the 1954 amended Police Law, these departments are supervised by the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the National Police Agency.
Criminal investigation departments or criminal investigation bureaus maintain two (third or even fourth divisions are established in some urban prefecture), an (reinforced as an independent department or headquarters in the TMPD and some prefectures), a mobile investigation unit, and an . The are first responders for initial criminal investigations, distributed among the region with unmarked cars. The special investigation teams are specialised detective units of the first investigation divisions, well acquainted with new technology and special tactics including tactical capabilities. They are mandated for critical incidents except for terrorism, but in some rural but well-versed prefectural police like Aomori Prefectural Police, these detectives can form a counterterrorism task force together with uniformed officers and riot specialists.
Public security
In the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the jurisdiction for public security policing is divided into the Public Security Bureau and , being responsible for investigation activities and security forces operations, respectively. In other PPHs, their security departments are in charge of all public security policing matters; but in the departments, they are divided in the same way as they are done by the MPD. They are supervised by the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency.
Within their security departments or bureaus, each PPH maintains Riot Police Units, which serve as a rapid reaction force capable of fulfilling riot police, police tactical unit, and search and rescue roles. Full-time riot police can also be augmented by regular police trained in riot duties.
Counterterrorism operations are also the affairs of the security departments. The Special Assault Teams are the national-level units and are the local units. These units are established within the RPU basically, but the SAT of the TMPD and Osaka PPH are under direct control of their Security Bureau (TMPD) or Department (Osaka PPH).
Ranks Police officers are divided into nine ranks:
StatusPolice ranksComparable military ranksRepresentative job title(s)Rank insigniaShoulder CordsNo counterpart(outside normal ranking)The chief of the NPAGeneralThe chief of the TMPDLieutenant generalDeputy commissioner general, deputy superintendent general, the chief of a regional police bureau and the chief of a PPHMajor generalThe chief of a PPHColonelThe chief of a police stationLocal police personnelLieutenant colonelThe chief of a small or middle police station, the vice commanding officer of a police station and commander of a riot police unitMajor or captainSquad commander in a police station and leader of a riot companyCaptain or lieutenantSquad sub-commander in a police station and leader of a riot platoonWarrant officer or SergeantField supervisor and leader of a police boxPrivate first classHonorary rank of police officersPrivateA prefectural police officer's career starts from this rank
The National Police Agency Commissioner General holds the highest position of the Japanese police. His title is not a rank, but rather denotes his position as head of the NPA. On the other hand, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent General represents not only the highest rank in the system but also assignment as head of the TMPD.
Equipment
Uniform In the pre-war period, police officers wore jackets with a stand-up collar. In 1946, the jacket was changed to four-buttons, open-collar style with vent and in 1950, a new police duty belt to wear gun and baton was adopted. But at this point, the uniforms of the National Rural Police and the municipal police differed in details.
During a reorganization in 1954, uniforms were to be unified across the country, but because that would take time, only the class chapter was unified at this time. After that, in 1956, a new uniform was adopted. The jacket became the turned-down collar style with three buttons, and the vent was done away with. Also, at this time, the summer clothes became grey, but in 1968 it was changed to greyish blue. On 1 April 1994, current uniform design was adopted across all of Japan.
Through the campaign against the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan at the end of the 1960s, helmets and protective gear for riot police officers were improved. On the other hand, general police officers were wearing blade-deflecting vests under uniforms so that they would not be noticeable, but since 2005, a strong stab vest to overlay on the uniform was adopted. And in the case of gun violence, bulletproof vests and helmets are also equipped. Ordinary police officers, riot police officers, SWAT detectives, and counter-terrorism operators use different vests of different standards.
Service weapon In the pre-war period, most Japanese law enforcement officials only had a sabre. Only some elite detectives, bodyguards, or tactical units such as the Emergency Service Unit of the TMPD were issued pistols. The FN Model 1910 or Colt Model 1903 were used for open-carry uses, and Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket or FN M1905 for concealed carry. During the Occupation, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers suggested them to be equipped with firearms. Because of the insufficient stocks and lack of domestically produced handguns, Japanese police started to receive service pistols leased from the Allies from 1949, and by 1951, all officers were issued pistols.