Koban (police boxes), which have long contributed to the safety and security of Japanese society, are spreading to Latin America. In Brazil, in particular, they are playing a major role in improving public safety. Rock singer Nanase Aikawa, who serves as a goodwill ambassador for Japan-Brazil Friendship Exchange, explores the background of this movement.
Mr. Aikawa points to the word “KOBAN.
Trust in the “officer.”
Sao Paulo is the largest city in South America with approximately 12 million people. Mr. Aikawa was walking down a main street when he raised his voice.
Oh, it says “police box” in Chinese characters.
In Brazil, a Japanese police box system has been introduced. Mr. Aikawa found one of the 47 police boxes in the city.
Inside the police station, a male resident complained that he had been the victim of many thefts. The police officer who responded said, “I understand. Let’s strengthen patrols. Then, please file a damage report as well. In Brazil, as in Japan, police officers offer advice on public safety and other troublesome issues.
Police officers are very approachable for citizens. If there is a problem, they dispatch a patrol car and are trustworthy,” said a resident. A male resident said, “The police officers are very friendly to the residents.
A police officer talking with a citizen who came to the police station
Japan’s system “was superior.”
The police box system, in which police officers are stationed throughout the city, originated in Japan, when the then Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department established “koban-sho” (police box) in 1874, where police take turns to guard the streets. 1888 marked the establishment of such police boxes throughout Japan, and since then they have served as bases for community-based police activities to protect the safety and security of the nation.
But why are there Japanese police boxes in Brazil?
The military regime in Brazil continued until 1985, resulting in a deep divide between the oppressive police and the citizens, which led to high crime rates and weak ties between residents. The government began to consider the introduction of community-based “local police” in order to promote urban development by bringing together the police, government, and residents.
According to Yuri Kanno of JICA’s Brazilian office, the search for a model to make the police more approachable to the people led them to Japan’s police box system.
Luis Castro, a police alumnus who knew the time, recalls.
I researched systems in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., but none satisfied me. It was then that I learned that Japan’s police box system was efficient and superior. We had only kept records of crimes up to that point, but in Japan they had also created a database of consultations from citizens and the responses of police officers, so we wanted to introduce that system.
It was JICA that served as a bridge between the police organizations of the two countries, starting with the “Community Policing Project” in the state of São Paulo in 2005 and expanding throughout Brazil. Mr. Castro, who participated in training at the National Police Agency in Japan, said, “Without JICA, which connected the Brazilian and Japanese police forces, we would not have been able to introduce the police boxes.
Mr. Castro was involved in the introduction of the police box system in Brazil.
Mobile Police Box Dramatically Reduces Thefts
What the Brazilian police learned from Japan was the importance of building ties with local residents. An important activity for this purpose is patrolling. They visit residents who are cooperative with the police and ask them how their community is doing these days. They also set up groups on social networking sites to collaborate with residents.
Since land for new police stations is scarce in urban areas, “mobile police boxes” are also in use. A mobile police box is a van-type vehicle equipped with the functions necessary for police box activities, and inside the vehicle is a desk where citizens can consult with the police. Mobile police boxes are dispatched to areas with high crime rates, and in some commercial areas the number of thefts has been reduced by about 80%.
More than 1,000 of these mobile police boxes have been deployed in the state of São Paulo alone.
Mobile police box operating in a commercial building
Jiu-Jitsu classes to protect children from gangs
The role of the police is not limited to responding to incidents and accidents that occur.
At 7:00 p.m., cheers could be heard from near a police box in the city. Inside the building, children in street clothes are jumping up and down. It is a free jujutsu class held by the police officers at the police box.
Adults also gathered to watch the children through the windows. One of the boys said, “Jiu-jitsu is fun. The policeman is a very important friend of mine,” he said with a smile, pointing to the police box, “When I grow up, I will become a policeman and be over there.
Through martial arts, we teach not only physical training, but also the importance of courtesy and hierarchical relationships. The male police officer who teaches the students says, “You can learn everything on the tatami. You will make mistakes in life, but I hope that you will train your mind and body and follow the right path.
Many children in Brazil are involved in crimes committed by gangs. We are here to accept them before the gangs lure them to join their gangs. Carlos Teixeira, a jiu-jitsu instructor, explains the significance of the jiu-jitsu classes.
Jiu-Jitsu class at a police box
Brazil to Guatemala
The police box system that has crossed over to Brazil is spreading further across the border. One of these is Guatemala, Central America.
In Guatemala, as in Brazil in the past, there was a deep-rooted distrust of the police, who were complicit in human rights abuses under the military regime, and serious crimes by drug cartels and gang groups were also a major problem. Therefore, in 2016, JICA launched a police human resource development project in what is known as “triangular cooperation” among Japan, Brazil, and Guatemala.
Ms. Sawako Niino of JICA’s Guatemala office explains how Guatemala adopted a police box system that Brazil learned from Japan and evolved in its own way.
I think the significance of this project is that it brought a Brazilianized community policing system to Guatemala. Because it has so much in common with Brazil, it was easier for the Guatemalan police and local residents to accept.”
The Community Policing Project, which began in 2021, provides support through training programs in Japan and abroad and the provision of 200 motorcycles to Guatemala. As a result of a series of efforts, Guatemalan residents’ trust in the police has improved, leading to a decrease in the number of homicides and other crimes, and further effects are expected in the future.
Motorcycles provided to Guatemala A tour of a community police project in Guatemala
Residents make the community safe.
After completing an observation tour of community policing activities in Sao Paulo, Mr. Aikawa said.
I was very proud to learn that the police box system that protects public safety in Japan is protecting citizens in distant Brazil and spreading to other countries as well. The role of a police box is to watch over the community, and it is the residents, not the police, who make the community safe. I also felt that such a perspective is important.”
For a society where everyone can live safely and securely A system born in Japan is helping to improve public safety in Latin America, a region on the other side of the world.
© Source JICA