川崎かわさきストーカー被害ひがい女性じょせい殺害さつがい事件じけん神奈川かながわ県警けんけい対応たいおうミス認みとめる

A 20-year-old woman in Kawasaki City was killed despite having consulted the police about being stalked by her former partner. In response to this incident, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters admitted on the 4th that there were organizational mistakes in their response and released the results of an investigation, stating that the system for dealing with stalking cases and similar incidents had become a mere formality.

In April of this year, Ms. Asahi Okazaki 20 from Kawasaki City was found dead under the floor of the home of her former boyfriend, defendant Hidenori Shirai 28. Subsequently, Shirai was arrested and indicted for killing Ms. Okazaki in December of last year.

In this case, the bereaved family claimed that although they had consulted the police about stalking and other issues, sufficient action was not taken. The Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters reviewed their response at the time and released a report summarizing the results on the 4th.

Mr. Okazaki, whose whereabouts became unknown last December, called the police station nine times, saying things like my ex-partner is lurking near my house. However, the report points out that all the officers who received the calls underestimated the danger and urgency, so the organizational initial response that should have been taken was hardly carried out.

Furthermore, even though the bereaved families had continued to request investigations after the person went missing, the authorities failed to recognize that the victim was in danger and kept missing opportunities to investigate with the possibility of a crime in mind.

On top of that, it concludes that the systems in place to deal with stalking incidents and similar cases became mere formalities and failed to function, because the police stations made decisions on their own without receiving guidance or advice from the prefectural police headquarters, and because the prefectural police headquarters, despite being aware of some of the information, did not take proactive measures.

And in the report, it states, We take very seriously the grave outcome of the woman who had sought consultation being killed, and we deeply apologize for our inappropriate response, clearly acknowledging that there were mistakes in the polices response as an organization.

Prefectural Police Chief: There were organizational and structural issues. In response to the investigation results, Kaoru Wada, Chief of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters, held a press conference on the 4th and stated, We take the fact that a woman who had consulted with the police was killed very seriously, and we deeply apologize for the inappropriate response.

I sincerely pray for the repose of the deceased woman’s soul, he apologized.

On top of that, it is believed that the background leading to the inappropriate response was the fact that the response systems for personal safety-related cases at both the police station and the prefectural police headquarters had become mere formalities, and there were organizational and structural issues.

I myself received a strict verbal warning from the National Police Agency today.

As the highest-ranking official of the prefectural police, I deeply feel responsible for having damaged the trust of the prefectural residents, and I sincerely apologize once again.

He stated, Each staff member will take the issues revealed in this investigation to heart and work to prevent recurrence.

In the press conference, Chief Wada stated that if the case had been recognized as a stalking incident and the organization had taken the proper initial response, it might have been possible to issue warnings or restraining orders and take measures to ensure the victims safety. On the other hand, he also said, It is difficult to make a definitive statement regarding the causal relationship between the polices inappropriate response and the victims death.

It was also revealed that on the 3rd, he met with the victim’s father and apologized to him directly.