Japan Deploys 1,200 Police Officers to Hunt For Prisoner Who Escaped Jail

Tatsuma Hirao, 27, who was serving time for multiple thefts, had been working at a shipbuilding yard at the Matsuyama prison in the southwestern city of Imabari.
But he gave guards the slip on Sunday night, disappearing from the facility he shared with around 20 other inmates.
“We deployed a total of 1,200 officers” to find the prisoner as soon as possible, said Masafumi Shigematsu, a local police investigator.
Hirao was caught on security cameras running away from the dorm, according to the investigator.
It was “an open institution” where inmates can walk around freely, said prison official Mutsuhiro Kawauchi.
“The inmates at the facility are trusted. They are believed to be able to control their desire to run away,” Kawauchi told AFP.
A total of 21 inmates have escaped since the opening of the prison in 1961, but Kawauchi said it had no plans to increase security.
“The purpose of the facility is to teach prisoners about building a relationship of trust … We have a lower re-offending rate, so that’s the merit” of the facility, he added.
After Hirao’s escape, a car was stolen nearby and later found abandoned on Mukaishima island, which is tens of kilometres (miles) away.
Residents on the island reported to police that socks, a mobile phone, a wallet and a pair of sandals were stolen, according to local media.
A resident on the island also reported his car keys had been stolen and said he found a note saying “I’m borrowing your car but I’ll never damage it.”
Japan enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the developed world but a relatively high re-offending rate.
South China Morning Post
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
- » Day 123 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Explosions in Kyiv, Widodo will meet Zelensky and Putin
- » North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister: We may Not Get a New Proposal
- » Belgrade: The Creation of the Serbian World is a Process that Cannot be Stopped
- » Day 122 of the Invasion of Ukraine: All of Luhansk under Russian Control except Lysychansk
- » Biden on the Abolition of Abortion Rights in the US: A Tragic Mistake
- » Macron: Thank you Bulgaria, Congratulations North Macedonia