Phineas comments

Am I the only one that thought that TBS interview was in poor taste?? [see youtube link above]

The anchor just kept asking poor Mr. Hawker -- who only wanted to get off the phone so he could call his family! -- "How does it feel? How does it feel??" Like after answering the question two or three times already he was finally going to respond, "How does it feel? I'm going to Disney World!!"

Eegads.

I don't think they're incompetent on the whole, per se, as much as they are unaccustomed to anything outside of what is considered "normal" as far as crime goes in Japan. [and by "normal" I mean people turning themselves in/confessing to the crime due to the feeling of shame, guilt, remorse -- whatever] It seems to me [from the news I read on JT] that the majority of the crime that's solved here results from either the suspect turning himself/herself in at the Koban, sticking around the scene and then confessing, or confessing when being routinely questioned.

But when confronted with a response that's not typical [i.e., Ichihashi running instead of standing around answering their (at least in their minds) routine questions], they seem to be at a loss.

["Hmm... That's strange that that man is running away like that."

"Sou da ne... Well, he looks honest enough. Maybe he lives with his family. Lets go ask them."]

If their job at the moment is to question somebody, not because they're a suspect, but just to gather information, and that person acts a little funny, well, maybe they're just a little off. Best to just stick with the plan. Don't want the make any waves with the shochou...

Maybe this comes back to what papasmurf said earlier regarding being given specific duties [and only those duties] to accomplish:

It is not their fault they are forced to work within a rigid system that stifles their ability to do their jobs properly... While it is important to have routines for them to follow, I think it is also important for the police to be flexible. In many cases, they lack that flexibility.

Papa, I couldn't agree more.