Many children fall prey to crimes after returning home

September 25, 2017

TOKYO- Children are more likely to become crime victims after returning home than on their way to and from school, a Tokyo police expert panel pointed out Monday.

In its recommendations submitted to Satoru Shimane, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, the same day, the seven-member panel underscored the importance of taking measures to protect children during after-school hours.

The experts, mostly in criminology and psychology, analyzed about 6,000 cases of serious crimes against children, such as murders, kidnappings and sexual assaults, and sexual offenses against women over the past five years as well as some 18,000 "warning incidents," including indecent exposure and being spoken to by strangers.

As a result, they found that many elementary school children fell prey to crimes between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., junior high school students between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and high schoolers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Looking further at 2,000 cases handled by five police stations in the capital, they also confirmed that crimes were committed against elementary school children more often during after-school hours than school-commuting hours, particularly when they went out to play or were on their way to and from preparatory schools or places where they were taking extra courses. Jiji Press