The National Police Agency (Japanese: 警察庁, Hepburn: Keisatsu-chō) is the central coordinating law enforcement agency of the Japanese police system. Unlike national police in other countries, the NPA does not have any operational units of its own aside from the Imperial Guard; rather, it is responsible for supervising Japan's 47 prefectural police departments and determining their general standards and policies, though it can command police agencies under it in national emergencies or large-scale disasters. It is under the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office.
As of 2017, the NPA has a strength of approximately 7,800 personnel: 2,100 sworn officers, 900 guards, and 4,800 civilian staff.
Contents
History
Police services of the Empire of Japan were placed under complete centralized control with the Police Affairs Bureau (警保局, Keiho-kyoku) of the Home Ministry at their core. But after the surrender of Japan, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers regarded this centralized police system as undemocratic.
During the occupation, the principle of decentralization was introduced by the 1947 Police Law. Cities and large towns had their own municipal police services (自治体警察, Jichitai Keisatsu), and the National Rural Police (国家地方警察, Kokka Chihō Keisatsu) was responsible for smaller towns, villages and rural areas. But most Japanese municipalities were too small to have a large police force, so sometimes they were unable to deal with large-scale violence. In addition, excessive fragmentation of the police organization reduced the efficiency of police activities.
As a response to these problems, complete restructuring created a more centralized system under the 1954 amended Police Law. All operational units except for the Imperial Guard were reorganized into prefectural police for each prefecture, and the National Police Agency was established as the central coordinating agency for these Police Departments.
On April 1, 2022, the NPA created the Cyber Affairs Bureau and the National Cyber Unit. In December 2023, the NPA announced that the TAIT (Telecom Scam Allianced Investigation Team) will be established in April 2024 to unify investigation efforts across Japan on fraud cases.
Since 2022, the number of people coming forward with racial profiling complaints against Japan's National Police Agency has grown. Foreigners are acknowledged to have been frequent racial profiling targets, with numerous racial profiling incidents not documented by police.
Organization
Leadership
The Commissioner General of the National Police Agency (警察庁長官, Keisatsu-chō Chōkan) is the highest ranking police officer of Japan, regarded as an exception to the regular class structure. For the Deputy Commissioner General (次長, Jichō), the Senior Commissioner is supplemented. The Commissioner General's Secretariat (長官官房, Chōkan Kanbō) are their staff. The civilian political leadership is provided by the National Public Safety Commission.
Internal Bureaus
The Community Safety Bureau (生活安全局, Seikatsu Anzen-kyoku) is responsible for crime prevention, combating juvenile delinquency, and pollution control.
This bureau was derived from the Safety Division of the Criminal Affairs Bureau in 1994.
Community Safety Planning Division (生活安全企画課)
Personal Safety and Juvenile Division (人身安全・少年課)
Safety Division (保安課)
Director for Economic Crimes Investigation (生活経済対策管理官)
The Criminal Affairs Bureau (刑事局, Keiji-kyoku) is in charge of research statistics and coordination of the criminal investigation of nationally important and international cases.
(Direct reporting divisions)
Criminal Affairs Planning Division (刑事企画課)
First Investigation Division (捜査第一課)
Second Investigation Division (捜査第二課)
Director for Criminal Intelligence Support (捜査支援分析管理官)
Director for Criminal Identification (犯罪鑑識官)
Organized Crime Department (組織犯罪対策部)
First Organized Crime Division (組織犯罪対策第一課)
Second Organized Crime Division (組織犯罪対策第二課)
Director for International Investigative Operations (国際捜査管理官)
Local Branch Bureaus and Departments
There are six Regional Police Bureaus (管区警察局), each responsible for a number of prefectures as below:
Tōhoku Regional Police Bureau (東北管区警察局, Tōhoku Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku)
Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima Prefectures
Kantō Regional Police Bureau (関東管区警察局, Kantō Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku)
Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka Prefectures
Chūbu Regional Police Bureau (中部管区警察局, Chūbu Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku)
Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Aichi, and Mie Prefectures
Kinki Regional Police Bureau (近畿管区警察局, Kinki Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku)
Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, and Wakayama Prefectures
Chūgoku–Shikoku Regional Police Bureau (中国四国管区警察局, Chūgoku Shikoku Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku)
Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi Prefectures
Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, and Kochi Prefectures
Kyūshū Regional Police Bureau (九州管区警察局, Kyūshū Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku)
Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Okinawa Prefectures
Subsidiary Organs
National Police Academy (警察大学校, Keisatsu Dai-gakkō)
National Research Institute of Police Science (科学警察研究所, Kagaku Keisatsu Kenkyū-sho)
Imperial Guard Headquarters (皇宮警察本部, Kōgū-Keisatsu Honbu)