Police admit Nara security flaws

Well from any point of view this was obvious from the beginning, nobody expects anybody to be perfectly protected against any kind of threat, but a lone guy with a home made gun that missed his first shot seems like a really low standard to fail.

"We can't deny that there were problems with the security plan given how things ended," Nara prefectural police chief Tomoaki Onizuka told a news conference.

Of course not, not when the entire world saw what happened. No cover up this time, guys.

> "I feel a grave sense of responsibility," he said, adding that police would analyze what exactly went wrong and implement any necessary changes.

What went wrong? Well……

From watching the videos or pictures, you could see there were a few security guys looking in the same direction as Abe, watching his “front.”

Not one guy was watching his “back.”

Sounds like a basic rookie mistake.

How many people would attack facing the victim vs attacking from behind if they had the chance?

Probably zero.

I feel a grave sense of responsibility," he said, adding that police would analyze what exactly went wrong and implement any necessary changes.

You haven't quit yet? Not to mention that your "heiwa boke" attitude towards security here in Japan is criminally negligent.

If there was a foreigner, or the potential for a foreign group or individual involved, you would have given Abe the literal "royal" treatment. But it was just a Japanese political event, and no one disturbs them, because Japanese dont commit crimes like this!

You and everyone else who were responsible for Abe's security should be fired! AND taken to court and charged with negligence!

Focusing their attention mostly on the front was only part of the problem. I think that just as big an issue was how everyone, including Abe himself, reacted after the first shot. It was as if nobody perceived any danger.

Abe, and all officials giving speeches in public, should be trained to hit the floor at such sounds. And, if they don't, an SP should tackle and cover them.

Instead, Abe just casually turned around, like "I wonder what that huge explosion directly behind me was. It doesn't seem like anything dangerous. Perhaps I'll take a look." It was weird to see, to say the least.

The SP's did seem to get to the murderer pretty quickly. But, they probably could have done it even faster, if they were also paying attention to the rear, as much as the front.

So, it was really two main issues: the lack of rear coverage/attention; and, the lack of training for reactions to threats.

On Friday, Nippon Television quoted Nara police as saying Abe was protected at the rally by one armed specialised police officer and some other local officers.

What are they "specialized" in? The footage shows the attacker walking op to Abe from behind, while specialists were standing around looking away.

It was said upon Chinese Social Media that some of Abe's Security guard went to a nearby Car-park and committed Suicide. Of course, Fake news since nothing written about that anywhere else. However, we can't really believe anything we read these days, without cross-referencing it, and checking those other news sources are simply repeats of the same source. The same goes, with the comments upon Abe's Security.

The only thing we know for sure, is that they didn't succeed in protecting him.... and that makes for rife speculation as to the reasons why.

A single snapshot picture of the direction these Security persons were looking, doesn't necessarily mean that they always looked in that direction.

And when faced with a close crowd of Civies each of whom could be a potential threat (including the old Granny with the walker bag - a mobile bomb?), you are potentially facing a nightmare situation - or at least as such most-places else in the World - though in Japan, assassination attempts are not commonplace - hence this relaxed approach to security - perhaps in future, they will compare with the Security provided to Obama or Clinton when they go to Election Rallies .... but that would be very Un-Japanese, and feed into the anti-foreigner rhetoric we see from the local Far-Right here.

JTC

A single snapshot picture of the direction these Security persons were looking, doesn't necessarily mean that they always looked in that direction.

Not a "single snapshot". There is video, several tens of seconds long. These "specialists" had plenty of time to stop the attacker while he walked up to Abe, but were looking away.