NCJ Number
166121
Date Published
1996
Length
122 pages
Annotation
Japan's White Paper on Crime reviews crime trends and the treatment of offenders in 1994 and 1995, with emphasis on the current state of and countermeasures against heinous offenses.
Abstract
The number of Penal Code offenses reported by the police in 1995 totaled 2,435,983, an increase of 9,289 (0.4 percent) over the previous year. Of Penal Code offenses reported in 1995, larceny was the most prevalent offense (64.1 percent), followed by traffic-related negligence (27.3 percent). The police cleared 970,179 offenders in 1995, a decrease of 3,979 (0.4 percent) from the previous year. The number of shooting incidents declined between 1994 and 1995, while the number of drug law offenses increased. For violent offenses, the number of reported cases, cleared cases, and cleared offenders involving assault increased, while the number of reported cases, cleared cases, and cleared offenders involving bodily injury, intimidation, and extortion decreased. Deaths associated with crime decreased by 4.9 percent between 1994 and 1995, with deaths due to homicide comprising 56 percent of the total. Public prosecutors disposed of 2,028,491 offenders in 1995, and suspects were arrested in 28.5 percent of the cases. The number of offenders adjudicated by district, family, and summary courts in the first instance through trial totaled 59,588 in 1995, a 2.5-percent increase over 1994. A total of 131,786 juvenile delinquents were adjudicated by family courts. The average daily population in penal institutions increased by 2.1 percent between 1994 and 1995. In terms of heinous offenders cleared in 1995, offenders in their 20's and 30's comprised nearly half of the total number of homicides; those younger than 20 years of age accounted for about 40 percent of robberies. The prosecution rate for heinous offenders was extremely high, compared to that for all offenders. Data are provided on the treatment of long-term prisoners, juveniles detained for heinous offenses, the rehabilitation of heinous offenders, and victims of heinous offenses. Notes, tables, and figures