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Japan National Organization
The mission of the National Public Safety Commission is
to
guarantee the neutrality of the police by insulating the
force from
political pressure and to ensure the maintenance of
democratic
methods in police administration. The commission's primary
function
is to supervise the National Police Agency, and it has the
authority to appoint or dismiss senior police officers.
The
commission consists of a chairman, who holds the rank of
minister
of state, and five members appointed by the prime minister
with the
consent of both houses of the Diet. The commission
operates
independently of the cabinet, but liaison and coordination
with it
are facilitated by the chairman's being a member of that
body.
As the central coordinating body for the entire police
system,
the National Police Agency determines general standards
and
policies; detailed direction of operations is left to the
lower
echelons. In a national emergency or large-scale disaster,
the
agency is authorized to take command of prefectural police
forces.
In 1989 the agency was composed of about 1,100 national
civil
servants, empowered to collect information and to
formulate and
execute national policies. The agency is headed by a
commissioner
general who is appointed by the National Public Safety
Commission
with the approval of the prime minister. The central
office
includes the Secretariat, with divisions for general
operations,
planning, information, finance, management, and
procurement and
distribution of police equipment, and five bureaus. The
Administration Bureau is concerned with police personnel,
education, welfare, training, and unit inspections. The
Criminal
Investigation Bureau is in charge of research statistics
and the
investigation of nationally important and international
cases. This
bureau's Safety Department is responsible for crime
prevention,
combating juvenile delinquency, and pollution control. In
addition,
the Criminal Investigation Bureau surveyes, formulates,
and
recommends legislation on firearms, explosives, food,
drugs, and
narcotics. The Communications Bureau supervises police
communications systems.
The Traffic Bureau licenses drivers, enforces traffic
safety
laws, and regulates traffic. Intensive traffic safety and
driver
education campaigns are run at both national and
prefectural
levels. The bureau's Expressway Division addresses special
conditions of the nation's growing system of express
highways.
The Security Bureau formulates and supervises the
execution of
security policies. It conducts research on equipment and
tactics
for suppressing riots and oversaw and coordinates
activities of the
riot police. The Security Bureau is also responsible for
security
intelligence on foreigners and radical political groups,
including
investigation of violations of the Alien Registration Law
and
administration of the Entry and Exit Control Law. The
bureau also
implements security policies during national emergencies
and
natural disasters.
The National Police Agency has seven regional police
bureaus,
each responsible for a number of prefectures. Metropolitan
Tokyo
and the island of Hokkaido are excluded from these
regional
jurisdictions and are run more autonomously than other
local
forces, in the case of Tokyo, because of its special urban
situation, and of Hokkaido, because of its distinctive
geography
(see Geographic Regions
, ch. 2). The National Police
Agency
maintains police communications divisions in these two
areas to
handle any coordination needed between national and local
forces.
Data as of January 1994
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