News Anti-crime patrol ``Blue Patrol'' Considering shift to taxi business Government cuts budget to reduce number of vehicles

Blue patrol cars lined up in a parking lot. After completing the vehicle inspection, members are waiting inside the vehicle = Around 6:25 pm on the 23rd, Uenoya, Naha City

　In order to prevent incidents and accidents involving US military personnel, the government has reduced the scale of the Okinawa Regional Safety Patrol (commonly known as Blue Patrol) project in 2016, and shifted to patrols using taxis (commonly known as Tak Patrol). On the 1st, it was found that the company was considering a business transition. The government has provided drive recorders and emergency call devices to taxi operators in the prefecture, and has begun trial operation in fiscal 2018. A Cabinet Office official said in an interview with the newspaper, "After verifying the anti-crime effects of Takpat, we will consider switching from Blue Patrol." (Society Department, Yuki Yano) In the Okinawa-related budget proposal for FY2010, the government has reduced the blue police project from 730 million yen in FY2009 to 465 million yen. The person in charge said that the reason for the decision was, "We have continued the business for several years and have accumulated knowledge." Due to budget cuts, the business will also be scaled down. According to tender notices for fiscal 2022, the number of blue patrol vehicles patrolling between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. will be reduced from 75 in fiscal 2009 to 40. The patrol from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am the next day, which is outsourced to a security company, will be extended by one hour before and after, and the number of vehicles will be increased from 25 to 15. On the other hand, the Okinawa General Secretariat, which implements the project, will increase the number of takpats in FY2022. From about 1,800 vehicles in 2009, we will double to about 3,600 vehicles belonging to the Prefectural Hire Taxi Association, and start full-scale operation.　The taxi is equipped with a touch panel reporting device, and the prefectural police can use the video recorded on the drive recorder for the investigation. The blue patrol's landmark blue light is not installed, and the appearance does not change. In response to a question by the newspaper that the effectiveness of crime prevention would be weakened, Yoshihiro Shimoji, the director of the Security and Safety Measures Promotion Department of the General Affairs Department of the General Affairs Bureau, replied, "We will increase the effectiveness of crime prevention by making Takpat known." "I would like to verify after full-scale operation whether it has the same crime prevention effect as the blue patrol," he said. [Language] Okinawa Regional Safety Patrol Corps Established in June 2016 by the government in response to the assault and murder of a woman by a man belonging to the US military in Uruma City in April 2016. Two patrol vehicles with blue rotating lights patrol the main island from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am the next day.