Major crimes among military down in Japan

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Major crimes among military down in Japan
By Teri Weaver and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, February 10, 2008

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — In 2006, one U.S. servicemember in Japan was arrested on suspicion of murder, according to Japanese police statistics.

The same year, one servicemember was arrested following a rape. Seven people from the U.S. military community — servicemembers, civilians and family members — were arrested in connection with robberies. A total of 26 were arrested in cases involving assaults and other violent crimes.

While these records tally grave and disturbing crimes, they also point to the dearth of serious offenses involving the 96,000 people in the American military community in Japan and Okinawa.

Crime statistics for recent years show that major crimes involving the U.S. military are in most cases stagnant or decreasing, according to numbers from Japan’s National Police Agency.

Because the number of cases is so small, it’s impossible to tell if the statistics indicate any trends, U.S. military officials acknowledge. Still, from 2002 to 2006, there were fewer rapes, robberies, thefts and drug cases involving U.S. servicemembers, family members and civilian workers.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52330