Suspect flees from police station while officer dozes

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo -- A man being questioned over a car break-in escaped from a police station while a 19-year-old officer dozed, sparking a search involving 170 officers before the suspect turned himself in.

Nishinomiya Police Station officials said the 32-year-old suspect, Takami Yonezawa, a resident of Osaka, escaped from the police station at about 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The station quickly deployed a search team with about 170 officers looking for the 32-year-old, who turned himself in at the same police station on Tuesday afternoon.

Officials said that Yonezawa was arrested on suspicion of stealing a bag from a vehicle in a coin-operated parking lot in Nishinomiya at about 3 a.m. on Monday. A 34-year-old sergeant and a 19-year-old officer began questioning Yonezawa in an investigation room at the police station at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday. However, when the sergeant left the room for about 10 minutes to print out a report, the suspect fled. The younger officer was dozing at the time and reportedly did not notice Yonezawa escaping.

Police said Yonezawa's handcuffs had been removed in the investigation room, but he was tied to a chair with a leash. The door to the room was unlocked, and Yonezawa apparently untied the leash and escaped through the corridor.

"It's extremely unfortunate that he escaped while we were questioning him," police station head Chiaki Yoneda said.

The 19-year-old officer had emerged from a police academy at the end of January, and was assigned to the police station, where he was undergoing criminal investigation training.

容疑者逃走：男が出頭、身柄を確保…兵庫県警西宮署

　兵庫県警西宮署内で窃盗容疑の取り調べを受けていた容疑者の男が逃走していた事件で、２１日午後、住所・職業不詳、米沢隆美容疑者（３２）が同署に出頭、身柄が確保された。

　同署の調べでは、最初の逮捕容疑は２０日午前３時ごろ、西宮市内のコインパーキングに駐車中の乗用車からキャリーバッグを盗んだ疑い。その後同日午後４時半ごろ、西宮署内の取調室で男性巡査（１９）が居眠りしていたすきに逃走した、としている。【中里顕】

Mainichi

April 21, 2009

National Police Agency looks to 'block' access to child pornography sites

The National Police Agency (NPA) will consider the introduction of new "blocking" measures against online child pornography, which will make certain Web sites inaccessible.

An NPA advisory council against online child pornography, led by Tokyo Metropolitan University Professor Masahide Maeda, has proposed to set up a group to monitor illegal and harmful Internet sites to prevent access.

The NPA will set up a committee consisting of providers and related government ministries and agencies as early as May to consider the introduction of the blocking measures.

In Japan, "filtering" measures are being implemented, such as those that let cell phone carriers shut down access to illegal and harmful sites. Requests to erase such entries have been made to site operators by the Internet Hotline Center, which consists of Internet providers. However, the council pointed out that the spread of online child pornography cannot be prevented only by current measures.

Mainichi

March 31, 2009

Police apologize over 'Taliban' comment to porphyria sufferer

YONAGO, Tottori -- A high school student who wears a veil due to a medical condition was stopped and verbally abused by a police officer, who asked him if he was a member of the Taliban, it's been learned.

Tottori police apologized for the officer's actions at the Tottori Prefectural Assembly on Friday, saying the officer acted and behaved inappropriately.

The 18-year-old student, who attends a high school in the Tottori Prefecture city of Sakaiminato, suffers from porphyria, a condition which causes pain when his skin is exposed to sunlight.

The officer from Yonago Police Station stopped the boy as he was riding double on a bicycle near JR Yonago Station on Oct. 28 last year, accusing him of being "strangely-dressed" and asking him, "Are you a Taliban member?"

The chief of the prefectural police headquarters later admitted that he was stopped because the veil looked suspicious, not because he was riding double.

The head of Yonago Police Station apologized to the student and his family, and the prefectural police headquarters reportedly sent a DVD explaining the condition to all police stations.

The student's 21-year-old brother also suffers from the condition, and met with Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai, seeking support in obtaining signatures to have the condition designated an intractable disease. The student's brother said the problem had been caused by a lack of understanding about the illness, adding that he wanted a lot of people to learn about it. The governor replied that he would make a request to the central government seeking official designation.

Mainichi

March 7, 2009