Amid a recent rash of incidents thought to be connected to organized crime, a plan to hire 100 police officers in fiscal 2013 was reported at a meeting of the Police Affairs Committee of the Prefectural Assembly on Feb. 12. With the primary aim of cracking down on gang activities, 77 of the new officers will be assigned to the organized crime unit, while 17 will head to cybercrimes and 6 to death investigations. An official proposal will be submitted to the regular February meeting of the Prefectural Assembly. Once approved, this will be the largest increase in police hiring in the nation—more than double Tokyo Prefecture’s plans to add 46 cops. The Prefecture has indicated it will conduct hiring exams as soon as possible to recruit the new police officers.
Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, Feb. 13
