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Osaka police admit hiding 81,000 crimes to clean up image

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Uh, popular politician? I wonder who that is? I am sure that this forced "foreign crime" to "rise."

16 ( +20 / -4 )

So, how do you keep the rime rate down and the conviction rate up? Don't report the crimes, of course! More smoke and mirrors folks!

7 ( +14 / -7 )

This happens in every police force in Japan and in every police force around the world that is required to report crime stats.

We should be very careful when the police insist that they should not have to fill in 'so much' paperwork so that they can get out and patrol the streets.

3 ( +10 / -7 )

People, you seem not to read news well, this isn't cower up on national level, this is cover up of OSAKA police department, and this crimes are on OSAKA politicians to blame .

-17 ( +9 / -26 )

I think its done all over the developed world. Certainly not exclusive to Osaka.

2 ( +12 / -10 )

and in every police force around the world that is required to report crime stats.

M3M3M3 -- what other police forces around the world may or may not do is irrelevant. The fact is that the Osaka police, because they were "under heavy pressure from a popular regional politician" discredited themsleves and brought shame to themselves and the justice system. And, of course, the top brass deny any knowledge. This sort of behavior is becoming endemic in Japan, and that should be the concern of anyone who loves Japan, rather than saying the usual "but others do it too." Japan used to pride itself on absolute honor, not relative honor.

18 ( +24 / -6 )

I dont know if I should be shocked about 81000 crimes being reported or the fact that its only 10% of all the crimes.

Of course this will end with some gomenasai and nobody getting really punished.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Nenad:

People, you seem not to read news well, this isn't cower up on national level, this is cover up of OSAKA police department, and this crimes are on OSAKA politicians to blame .

As always, putting a positive spin on damn right dreadful news that tarnishes Japan's image. We mustn't criticize, must we? Another one who refuses to acknowledge the bad stuff that goes on here. By the way, sure, I believe there's a near 99% conviction rate in Japan. I mean, all those found guilty of crimes really are guilty, right?

sillygirl:

Uh, popular politician? I wonder who that is?

Yeah, I wonder who that politician was.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

So lower level officers "on their own" made a decision to twist the statistics to benefit a "Popular" politician!!! 10 points for gumption. And another 10 for acting on their own. And another 20 for another blatant lie.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

@jerseyboy

Of course I'm not suggesting that it is acceptable behaviour because police around the world do the same. I'm just pointing out that manipulation of the numbers is inherent in any job where performance is measured stats and that we should always be sceptical. I distrust self reported police statistics whereever in the world they come from is my point.

Also, the suggestion that one bullying politician in Osaka forced the a vulnerable police force to manipulate their statistics against their will is certainly a convenient excuse for the police isn't it? Do you honestly think they weren't fiddling the numbers even before that particular politician was elected?

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

Not surprising.

The world needs to know how Japan does business. Can you say Olympus? Numbers magic.

Of course, now that the Olympics are secure lets report the truth.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

I think the big problem here is that just one ward of Osaka--Nishinari-ku--has skewed the crime rate of the city of Osaka itself much higher than the norm in Japan. Given the large number of homeless who wander around this area and the strong influence historically of the yakuza at this Osaka ward, this revelation surprises no one who lives in the Keihanshin region. Maybe the real issue here is that Osaka police have tried to cover up the continuing crime problems of Nishinari-ku?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Honesty is the best policy cause what goes around can come back to haunt you.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

There's only one "popular politician" in all of Kansai, probably all of Japan.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yeah, I wonder who that politician was.

I wonder why it was decided not to print Hashimoto's name, (oops) in the first place? Fear of reprisals?

13 ( +13 / -1 )

Popular regional politician, I wonder, if it id the one that doesn't like Tattoo's

to clean up image

Well that worked out just fine :P

6 ( +7 / -1 )

the politician did not hide the evidence, he pressured the police force to do something about Osaka's image of crime and the police did, not in reducing actual crimes though...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

In Canada & USA the police love to report crimes,even prosecute/criminalize people who should be let off...it helps the police/crown prosecuters/jails get more money from the bleeding taxpayer...It's a scam that no politician will touch because the police dirty unions will go after them and smear them and attempt to ruin their career.DIRTY AMERICAN POLITICS

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

CanadianINtokyo, now that we know from your little rant how things work in America do you care to comment on the Japanese issue seeing as this is Japan Today and not America today. Personally this is not surprizing and is well known that all cities in Japan do this. It was just a matter of time before it came to light. In a few days you'll see more cities being brought into the light.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Japan's police are among the most corrupt in the 1st world, so there is little doubt in mind that this is wide spread and not isolated to Osaka. It also goes some way to explain Japan's 'low crime' rate' statistics which I have never believed.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

And who is going to be fired for all of this?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

This is the digital age, double-reporting with automatic audits and national statistics ought to be easy. Probably most people like to report crimes online anyway, these days.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

As always, putting a positive spin on damn right dreadful news that tarnishes Japan's image. We mustn't criticize, must we?

We musn't jump to unsupported conclusions...you have no proof whatsoever that every police unit in the country is covering up crime.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Of course I'm not suggesting that it is acceptable behaviour because police around the world do the same. I'm just pointing out that manipulation of the numbers is inherent in any job where performance is measured stats and that we should always be sceptical. I distrust self reported police statistics whereever in the world they come from is my point.

M3M3M3 -- but, "of course" you are doing exactly that, as soon as you use the word "because". You are making this sound like routine behavior the world over, simply based on your own assertion. Once again you are using the well-worn behavior of those in Japan caught doing unacceptable things -- rationalizing. Deceiving the public is an absolute crime against the good people of Osaka and what you think the police in Hong Kong or New York or London do is entirely irrelevant.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

anyone being punished for this? oh wait no, its japan. bow and move on.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

81,000?? And can you imagine the number of criminal complaints they may have had but didn't pursue??

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Again, and as usual, not surprised at all... but they probably did report all the crimes by gaijin. Hey... but even so... Japan is still a very safe place. We'll keep on denying it until it hits home.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Anyone who believes this is just Osaka police, then I have bridge I can sell you. The under reporting of crime is a national problem by Japanese police who want to portray a Japan with false pictures of a society where crime is low, so that foreign countries can be impressed. I have to question the entire Japanese stat on crime and how truthful they are.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

I feel like under-reporting crime only makes the problem worse. If everyone is under the impression of living in a safe place then criminals have an easier time targeting unsuspecting victims.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

For those who didn't know, including me,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_crime

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

@jerseyboy

You are missing my point. I'm agreeing with you that this is totally unacceptable and outrageous. I'm pointing out that this type of behaviour has been well documented in multiple police forces around the world, so no-one should doubt that this could also be happening in Japan. It has happened in Japan and undoubtedly continues to happen in police forces across Japan, perhaps on an even grander scale.

I've experienced this myself when I turned in a $3000 sports bicycle that had obviously been stolen and dumped in a field near my home for a few days. I was told by the police that there was nothing suspicious about the fact that the lock had been ripped off and gears jammed by an obviously inexperienced rider, and that I would be arrested if I didn't dump the bicycle back in the field. Obviously, I didn't take their threat seriously since that would have just added another crime/arrest to their stats.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

This is the digital age, double-reporting with automatic audits and national statistics ought to be easy.

I take it you have never been to a Japanese police station to report anything.

Probably most people like to report crimes online anyway, these days.

Haven't been to Japan yet have you.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Have been to Japan a few times but only briefly each time. I was saying what should be, not what is.

Even in USA. My local police only wants nonserious crimes reported online, and a further requisite is that the reporter not report crimes where they know the perpetrator.

So I said double-report. I think if people were requested to fill out an online report for every crime, whether they reported it verbally or not, the crime statistics would be harder to fudge, especially if a federal government system was used for the reports.

That assumes the federal government does not also want to drastically reduce the apparent crime rate by under-reporting. There should be at least a few honest people in government. Unfortunately would not expect them to have the required influence for this.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

FPSRussiaAug. 04, 2014 - 09:17AM JST Not surprising. The world needs to know how Japan does business. Can you say Olympus? Numbers magic. Of course, now that the Olympics are secure lets report the truth.

Plus life longevity. Hiding dead bodies brrrrrr Olympic 2020... Unemployment rate... etc etc Lies and lies. I don't trust Japanese stats.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Have been to Japan a few times but only briefly each time. I was saying what should be, not what is.

Why are you insisting on putting American values and expectations upon another country? This is one reason why American's are hated so much all over the world, for all the good that many do it's thinking like this that comes across as so arrogant.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

No surprise here, but anyone who ever defends the J-police on accusations of corruption and fudging stats can never do so again with their heads held high, nor can anyone say you are a J-brasher when you point out the fact that nothing will be done about this.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

No surprise here, but anyone who ever defends the J-police on accusations of corruption and fudging stats can never do so again with their heads held high, nor can anyone say you are a J-brasher when you point out the fact that nothing will be done about this.

Not really. Osaka's decline rate was too drastic to where many within Japan were doubting this.

As the articles have indicated, they desperately wanted to get out of being the worst.

http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20140731k0000m040161000c.html

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Yubaru

Why do you think it's American values? It's modern values. This is the digital age. Governments should increase efficiency but they don't because the objective of governments is to make themselves more necessary and not less. USA is supreme in this regard. They waste more money on government than any other country in the world. I don't think this is admirable. Other industries have made themselves extremely efficient in the computer age, using productivity gains due to computer technology, because they are subject to competitive forces in the market. Not solely subject, they can always game the system, but still, subject to a much greater degree than government is.

I live in California, I am extremely aware of the extent to which public employees protect their interests at the expense of the public. They claim their enemy to be the 1% richest people when it reality it is everyone who is not in the public sector. They get to retire at AGE 55! Do you understand how big a benefit that is, compared to the poor schmucks who are financing it?

And everywhere, I am saying "should". Not "is".

I am really not sure where you are coming from saying "Why are you insisting on putting American values and expectations upon another country?", because you do not say what you are defending. But whether you are defending the public sector in Japan or not, I still don't have to like the public sector's protection of its own self-interest, whether in Osaka, California, or Washington DC, and I don't. This is the computer age, things should be much better than they are, and they are not.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

haha too funny & un surprising!

AND since they admit to not reporting 81,000 I bet that number is really between 243,000 & 500,000 haha

A popular politician ...................haha too funny! While Mr Popular is checking up on this may he should also be checking keystones for tattoo's!!

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Juke the stats! A time-honored tradition! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ogxZxu6cjM

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japanese police corruption-the shocking thing is that nobody is shocked anymore.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Statistic and numbers all that bullshit is mean nothing. Government around the world on a daily basis manipulate numbers to make them look good in the eyes of the voters. Voters are too smart for that. I think? Hopefully Osaka is not as bad as it reported.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Maybe they were drunk and forgot to report them?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Inconvenient that there's no Do No Evil monkey...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Because it's all too hard to do your job isn't it.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

And to think of the trouble I had hiding the fact that I had taken a cookie from the cookie jar !

1 ( +2 / -1 )

No charges, no accountability and around we go.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Osaka police admit hiding 81,000 crimes to clean up image

That's kind of ironic considering this helps make their image much dirtier.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Only place I have ever been the victim of a crime was in Osaka... some git nicked my wallet, but my mate and I got it back thanks to a bloke who tripped him up.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Plus life longevity. Hiding dead bodies brrrrrr Olympic 2020... Unemployment rate... etc etc Lies and lies. I don't trust Japanese stats.

I totally agree. They are always accusing other countries (well, specifically China) of falsely reporting national statistics, but they do exactly the same thing!

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I have to wonder if these crimes were left unreported, then with these crimes even investigated? This article suggests that the possibly a murder was left unreported. So, that means possibly a murder wasn't investigated?

I understand that many police officers were reprimanded, approximately 100, but did anybody lose their job?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

This is Osaka police story, not politician, Not Tokyo. 2020 Olympic is Tokyo Olympic/ Not USA or Canada but since someone mentioned USA, I let you know that people and victims do not go back to home/office to report crime on-line. They usually use 911 phone call. cell phone, i-phone, etc. Someone calls 911 when someone heard gunshot/s., etc. Just 911.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Plus life longevity. Hiding dead bodies brrrrrr Olympic 2020... Unemployment rate... etc etc Lies and lies. I don't trust Japanese stats.

Not to mention old age pension fraud and Japan's famous long life spans by hiding dead bodies, and of course the gravity of the radiation due to Fukushima situation - which all make the Japan's stats look good on surface. This is why lot of people don't think this is just an Osaka thing. It fits Japan's pattern.

I totally agree. They are always accusing other countries (well, specifically China) of falsely reporting national statistics, but they do exactly the same thing!

A liar would be the first to usually accuse others of lying because he had experience in it, so he thinks that's what everybody does.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

I lived in Japan for 12 years, admittedly im 6 feet tall Gaijin with a shaved head and my Japanese wife says i look evil if i don't smile but in all that time living in Naha and now Beppu plus travelling around the country I have never seen any street crime. I see a few bikes dumped in the river which im guessing were stolen to get home from a night out but as far as im concerned Japan is very quiet compared with my home town in England. And so far I have yet to find an area in Japan where I felt uncomfortable walking at night.

Japanese perceptions of crime is very different from western and other Asian countries. When I moved to Okinawa I had heard complaints about the behaviour of US servicemen but I found them extremely well behaved, yes there was the odd incident but I know for a fact that a crime committed by a local would hardly receive any attention in the media compared to someone off the base. At Japanese airports there are signs warning to be aware of terrorists infiltrating the country but again look at the facts. The only terrorists to have launched attacks in Japan have been domestic ones.

I would love to take a few Japanese cops back to England and let them have a few nights on patrol, they would certainly return with a very different perception of what real crime is and our cops don't even carry guns.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

My question is how many did they frame if they covered up the reporting? How many people are in jail that should not be? I know if I was in the slammer I would definitely using this as a ticket out!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Harvey Manning: FYI, Osaka is not in Okinawa. ////Not too expensive to give a group tour to England so no one will stop you to bring Japanese cops from Osaka or whatever place. Okinawa GI crimes went down after US Military enforced drink curfew after too many rapes including gang rapes of little girl by Navy men. First curfew rule did not work so more severe curfew rules were enforced. Again, Okinawa is not in Osaka City. How tall or short you are have nothing to do with Osaka police cover up.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Japanese perceptions of crime is very different from western and other Asian countries.

Yes Harvey, especially if you're a six-foot tall gaijin male with a shaved head (and not a five-feet tall gajin female with a full head of blonde hair).

0 ( +2 / -2 )

When I moved to Okinawa I had heard complaints about the behaviour of US servicemen actually Japanese per capita commit more crime than gaijin and US service men in Japan combined. according to Japanese police statistics.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That reminds me of the Wire, with the mayor demanding the top cops to lower crime rates to use for their campaigns and the top cops pressuring cops down the hierarchy to fudge the stats. When the trouble hits though, the top cops have no problem throwing lower-ranking policemen to take the blame for what they themselves requested.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Has any officer been stripped of duty, lost pension, are going to prison?

WAIT! That can not happen for they have all been promoted and given citations for jobs well-done.

Heads should roll on this going straight to the very top for the orders to hid it came from there.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The deception, which amounted to nearly 10% of all crimes in the area during that period, meant that Tokyo appeared to have the worst national crime figures.

And after Tokyo police admits they too have been covering up crimes, they will once again have the worst crime rates in Japan! ....just joking, but it wouldn't surprise me...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This is a story of life imitating art. If you've seen the HBO series "The Wire", it gets political where the cops in charge "Juke the stats." to make it seem like crime is going down.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Osaka police admit hiding 81,000 crimes to clean up image

How's that working out for ya?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

What I find disappointing is that in all the comments here besides mine, nobody seems to have noticed my mention of the crime levels at Nishinari-ku ward, the area southwest of JR West Tennoji Station. The fact this article didn't mention the crime problems at Nishinari-ku ends up painting an image of crime in all of Osaka that is not deserved.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Article states: "The force’s top brass denied that they had ordered underlings to hide the data"

If Chief of Police is in denial, he should be investigated by independent party. Osaka goverment should advocate reforms to make such misconduct grounds for automatic firing. Employing such officers raises credibility issues with both public trust and any future court testimony the officers would give. This is about ethics as it is about the pragmatic reality of ensuring tha officers can be effective witnesses in future criminal prosecutions. The public need to hear a clear and unequivocal message that you cannot operate a police department if lying is tolerated. The police department should have policies in place that punish officers who lie to investigators. People in Osaka should do not tolerate misconduct, especially dishonesty and should support a stringent zero-tolerance policy.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Problem is any politician expressing a will for a zero policy towards lying has just broken his own promise by default, that's the saddest thing. Corruption and lies are so endemic it's taken for granted. Integrity, accountability just never reached these shores

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Osaka, the city a few years ago dispatched 2,240 (sic) police officers and mobilised 460 cars (sic) and a helicopter to catch one man (sic). The crime? The culprit one Hirofumi Fukuda punched (sic) a couple of officers after a traffic violation. Now this is a true story and if that doesn't conjure up an incompetent police force more reminiscent of the Keystone cops than a modern force, then I don't know what does?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Oh Osaka. I like the city because it doesn't seem to have so much pretense as other Japanese cities. You can wear whatever and eat tons of cheap food. The place smells and graffiti is not uncommon. I lived in Namba where the supermarkets were lit like pachinko parlors and you had to beware of foul-mouthed gyaru-mama pushing prams through the aisles. Osaka please deal with crime justly and openly. Don't brush it under the rug or try to "clean up" your image. There is plenty of posh tatemae in other Japanese cities. Keep it real, Osaka. That's why I like you.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is the problem with treating a police department like a business, it's a public service. If crime goes up or down, it's not usually symptomatic of how the police are working, it's usually social and economic issues. Let's look at the most recent example of the teenager who murdered the 15 year old classmate... failure of the police, or failure of the government to fund and modernize the mental health facilities in this country?

Police practices and quality should always be increased, but measuring police performance requires qualitative data much more than quantitative. If you put pressure on a police department for better numbers, time and time again you get this... it's so common it's ridiculous.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I am retired policeman in Osaka. I cannot say too much this story. But Raymond is correct. Osaka is safe. Please come and enjoy Osaka.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Oh Osaka. I like the city because it doesn't seem to have so much pretense as other Japanese cities. You can wear whatever and eat tons of cheap food. The place smells and graffiti is not uncommon. I lived in Namba where the supermarkets were lit like pachinko parlors and you had to beware of foul-mouthed gyaru-mama pushing prams through the aisles. Osaka please deal with crime justly and openly. Don't brush it under the rug or try to "clean up" your image. There is plenty of posh tatemae in other Japanese cities. Keep it real, Osaka. That's why I like you.

I could've written that! If they like you, they'll let you know quickly enough, and if they don't, they'll either ignore you or tell you to get stuffed, but either way, you always know where you stand with the good people of Osaka. Yes, please, keep it real!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

So first it was, "Japan has the highest number of elderly over 100 years old... WHOOPS! It seems we've been counting people who've been dead for a while." Now it's, "Japan is a very safe country... if you ignore that cities have been withholding 10% of the crimes committed in order to make them look safer."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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