Foreigner crime stats cover up a real cop-out

[red_fists]

Foreigner crime stats cover up a real cop-out

By ARUDOU DEBITO

The National Police Agency recently announced that the number of crimes committed by foreigners on temporary visas jumped by 25.8 percent.

[News photo]
Easy target --vending machines

Serious crimes like murder, robbery, and arson, were up 18.2 percent.

Feasting on the statistics, the mass media headlined such salient points as foreigners are three times more likely than Japanese to commit crimes in groups.

On May 1, 2000, the Sankei Shimbun erroneously ran on its front page: "Foreign Crime Rises Again, Six-Fold in Ten Years."

And authorities have come up with some creative ways to deal with this crime wave.

On April 9, 2000, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara urged the Nerima Self Defense Forces, in the event of an earthquake, to round up illegal foreigners in case they riot. He did not clarify how to determine an illegal foreigner on sight. Gov. Ishihara's May 8, 2001 Sankei Shimbun essay credited DNA with giving Chinese criminal tendencies.

It's not just the authorities though who are cashing in.

Miwa Locks, Japan's best-selling locksmith, in February 2000 advertised their new foreigner-proof security.

A 1992 Japanese cop movie, "Heavenly Sins" (Tengoku no Taizai), offered this forensics gem: "Too horrible a murder for a Japanese to commit. Musta been a foreigner."

These hysterics are sending the wrong signals.

The Mainichi Shimbun reported Feb. 22, 2001 that Nagano banks and government offices displayed prefectural police notices about foreign money snatchers showing a blond gentleman stealing from a Japanese woman's bag in a bank while his (blond) accomplice asked the victim how to use the ATM. The article also mentioned December 2000 Tokyo Metropolitan Police flyers: call the police if you hear someone speaking Chinese.

In February 2000, the Shizuoka Police Department distributed to shopkeepers a handbook entitled "Characteristic Crimes by Foreigners Coming to Japan."

The Tokyo Nakano Police recently issued several signs depicting foreigners as criminals. A notice posted at Nakano Sakaue Subway stations read "Beware of bagsnatching bad-foreigner groups prowling for people on the way back from banks! Their methods include dropping small amounts of money nearby, or distracting people by spraying shaving cream on their backs, saying 'your clothes are dirtied,' and then snatching your money."

It continued, mostly in red ink: "If a suspicious foreigner (fushin na gaikokujin) calls out to you, do not take your eyes or hands off your money or your bag."

Another banner in the area read; "Watch out! Bagsnatchings by bad foreigners who have come to Japan (rainichi furyou gaikokujin) frequently occur (tahatsu).

Nakano Police acknowledged producing and distributing these bagsnatcher notices. They claimed that it was in response to widespread reportage of risingcrime by foreigners. While unable to provide specific figures they did admit that the number of bagsnatchings has actually fallen within their precinct.

But profiling in this way breeds distrust and misunderstanding. And foreigners arrested on circumstantial evidence, such as parking near a crime scene, may be in dire straits. Japanese police investigations can legally deny suspects access to a lawyer or a consulate for two days, plus detain them an additional 21 days if a judge approves the action. As the U.S. State Department reminded us last year with its reports of "credible" cases of physical and psychological abuse, accidental arrest in Japan is no joke.

But let's return to the crime stats. There's no space here to question specific data (save the inflation of crime by including "visa violations" -- which only foreigners can commit), so I'll focus on the science involved.

The sampling process contributes to the statistical rise.

If police choose to target foreigners, the number of foreigners arrested will rise. But with the daily reports of Japanese committing patricide, matricide, and infanticide, not to mention the omnipresent biker gangs, police should try to maintain a balance.

And the media should acknowledge the statistics: The foreign population is growing, the Japanese one is not.

More foreigners present means more foreigners who can commit crime. In actuality, some kinds of crimes by foreigners, both the absolute number of them and as a proportion of the crime total, have fallen.

But if the Japanese crime rate is reported as rising -- which it is -- the police will be seen as not doing their job.

Selective reporting and unfair profiling must stop. With Japan's aging society, both the United Nations and a prime minister's commission reported in 2000 that Japan needs more immigration, not less.

Attracting and assimilating immigrants can only happen if residents are afforded equal application of the law and reporting.

The Japan Times: Oct. 4, 2002
(C) All rights reserved

[Kimpatsu]

More Japanese authoritarian racism. Just what we need in a country where restaurants and bars routinely display "No foreigner" signs.

.............and why is it they don't arrest all/any of the bosozoku (baby bikers), Soaplands, Shabu-shabu Bars etc. ?????

Just think what it would do to the National Crime Stats..........they would sky rocket and Japan would lose it's bragging right about how low the crime rate is and how safe it is.

To Japanese if you ignore it then it never existed........and therefore doesn't need to be dealt with.

[Jeff Hamacher]

Originally posted by red_fists
>> ... Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara ... <<

oh, don't even get me started on that Nanking-denying &%$%$*.

>> "Too horrible a murder for a Japanese to commit. Musta been a foreigner." <<

right ... and japanese murderers would never carve up their victims, encase the parts in concrete, and dump them close to some beach resort. nor would japanese murderers slice 'n' dice their own family because they'd been told not to go to a fireworks display. it's even less likely that a 14-year-old japanese murderer would lure an 11-year-old boy into a secluded wood, decapitate his victim, and dump the head at the front gate to his school with a defiant note to the police stuffed in the mouth.

>> These hysterics are sending the wrong signals. <<

no foolin'.

>> ... Nagano banks and government offices displayed prefectural police notices about foreign money snatchers showing a blond gentleman stealing from a Japanese woman's bag in a bank while his (blond) accomplice asked the victim how to use the ATM. <<

and the decoy was speaking in katakana, the sure sign that yer criminal is a furriner. those posters were a real slap in the face to any foreigner who could read japanese, including me. interestingly enough, a JET that i knew up here was partly responsible for having the posters removed from the town where he worked, after a little nomunication with the mayor.

>> As the U.S. State Department reminded us last year with its reports of "credible" cases of physical and psychological abuse, accidental arrest in Japan is no joke. <<

this is what worries me the most about living here: the power the police hold. i've never had a run-in with the cops, but as Tony's experience tells us, it's no picnic.

>> Selective reporting and unfair profiling must stop. With Japan's aging society, both the United Nations and a prime minister's commission reported in 2000 that Japan needs more immigration, not less. (...) Attracting and assimilating immigrants can only happen if residents are afforded equal application of the law and reporting. <<

many japanese cling to the notion that foreigners are "guests" or "transients" who will eventually leave anyway. increasing immigration and further "diluting" the society's national identity is the furthest thing from the minds of these people. in fairness, i would repeat my earlier statement that canadians are just as likely to complain about "immigrants" (as though they'd forgotten their own immigrant heritage); intolerance is not exclusive to japan, not by a long shot.

i also support the idea that, regardless of their nationality, a person committing a criminal act should be dealt with according to the law. for example, if someone overstays their visa, they may have to expect deportation or other penalties (unless there are extenuating circumstances). the main problem here is that the law may not always be applied even-handedly and the media is far too quick to jump on the "nasty gaijin" bandwagon to sell their stories.

[Kimpatsu]

This whole racist notion of us being "transients" also accounts for the difficulty in obtaining visa renewals or, in particular, permanent residence. The immigration authorities refuse to accept that we're here for the long-term.
I've been arguing for years that Japan needs massive, permanent immigration into all strata of society, not just Philippina maids and Korean construction workers (3K); where are the immigrant entrepreneurs? The TV stars? Movie actors? Novelists? Doctors? Dentists? And, why am I still not king of the universe?

[red_fists]

Tony.

Side question:
How long you been in japan and how many years are you married now?

I think you should be eligible already.

Cheers.

P.S.: 6 Weeks to get my permanent, and about 2 weeks collecting papers from work, muncipality, Wife, etc.
Plus, one 5 minute Interview at Otemachi Immigration.

Originally posted by red_fists

P.S.: 6 Weeks to get my permanent, and about 2 weeks collecting papers from work, muncipality, Wife, etc.
Plus, one 5 minute Interview at Otemachi Immigration.

Interview?

What for? They never had an interview with me........they sent me a post card and said come pick up your visa and that was it.

How about adding this.......standardizing Visa requirements.......

[red_fists]

Robert.

When I went there you couldn't just collect the Application form.

I had to have a short chat with an Official that gave me the Forms and explained to me what papers I needed according to my circumstances, current status and situation.
They provide that interview in a range of languages.

Made life a lot easier as I could disregard half of what was written on Page 1.

Picking it up is just as you say.
Receive Card, pop into Post Office buy 8.000Yen stamp and go and collect it.

Cheers.

Originally posted by red_fists
Robert.

When I went there you couldn't just collect the Application form.

I had to have a short chat with an Official that gave me the Forms and explained to me what papers I needed according to my circumstances, current status and situation.
They provide that interview in a range of languages.

Made life a lot easier as I could disregard half of what was written on Page 1.

Picking it up is just as you say.
Receive Card, pop into Post Office buy 8.000Yen stamp and go and collect it.

Cheers.

That would make it easier I guess.

They just grunted at me and said you need all the crap on this paper.........and then added "you probably won't get it your first time through.......most don't"

[red_fists]

Originally posted by Robert Rousselot

That would make it easier I guess.

They just grunted at me and said you need all the crap on this paper.........and then added "you probably won't get it your first time through.......most don't"

I have heard that many immigration offices are not that nice and friendly.

I have only dealt with the Guys at Otemachi as everybody told me to skip Shibuya too crowded, etc.

Saitama I hear is bad as well.

Nerima & Musashino-Shi the Guys are very friendly and helpfull.

Cheers.

P.S.: Mine got approved on the 1st attempt. No hassless or questions.

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by red_fists
How long you been in japan and how many years are you married now?

10 and 5 respectively. Apply every year. Always turned down. No reasons given. At the last interview, the immigration official called my wife a "traitor" for marrying a foreigner. So, no change there, then...

[red_fists]

Tony.

I was told 5yrs in Japan and a 3yr spouses Visa, plus a good job record should do the trick.

Hmmm, strange.

Took me 2 attempts to lengthen my spouses Visa from 1 yr to 3 yrs.

Seeya.

[Kimpatsu]

See.. Nobody wants me...

[red_fists]

Tony.

I buy you a Beer next time.

Was that the 20th or the 27th?
Hope it will be 27th.

Cheers.

[Jeff Hamacher]

Originally posted by Kimpatsu
>> See.. Nobody wants me... <<

oh, come now, we love you, Tony! and if you don't just feel that love by now, well, i suppose it means we'll just have to buy you more beer ...

the thing i've noticed about the immigration folks in Nagano City is that, if you speak japanese reasonably well and they can get their point across without struggling, then they're really quite helpful (they are, as Robert points out, pretty cagey regarding the exact requirements for certain parts of visa applications). on the other hand, i've witnessed some near shouting matches with applicants who either seemed to have a hard time understanding what they were being told or didn't agree with the decisions handed down by the immigration officials. i dunno, i've never applied for a permanent resident visa and won't this time around, but i'm not holding out great hope for similar results to Robert's or Peter's experiences ...

the other thing you have to bear in mind is that the whole visa examination process is pretty arbitrary, no matter what country you're talking about. i saw a very telling documentary on the US INS and the way that they screen humanitarian refugee claimants ... at least a few glaring errors in their evaluation process got captured on tape.