Decrease in police officers working full-time at the Metropolitan Police Department, due to approximately 93% capacity ratio and penetration of WLB

Work-life balance (WLB) is becoming more prevalent in the police force, which is required to respond to incidents, accidents, and consultations day and night, and the number of police officers working full-time is decreasing. The Metropolitan Police Department, which dispatches large numbers of personnel to disaster-stricken areas in other prefectures and large-scale security operations, has been greatly affected, with 40,559 police officers counted as "personnel" who can work full-time (as of April 1), about 3,000 short of the capacity stipulated by Tokyo metropolitan ordinances. A senior Metropolitan Police Department official said, ``While valuing the WLB, we will take measures to maintain enforcement power on the ground.'' The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has 102 police stations, and it also guards ``important protection facilities'' such as the Imperial Palace and embassies of various countries, and plays a central role in investigating anonymous and mobile criminal groups. It is also the only country in the country to have a public security department that is responsible for exposing illegal activities by far-right and far-left activists as well as spies from other countries. The Metropolitan Police Department, the largest prefectural police force, has about twice the number of police officers as Osaka, which has the second largest number of police officers.The declining birthrate makes it difficult to recruit, and the number of full-time police officers is decreasing as WLB becomes more established. The Metropolitan Police Department is working to improve operational efficiency and reorganize its organization. According to the National Police Agency, as of April 1, the number of police officers is 43,619. Approximately 40,559 people were able to work full-time, with a ``sufficiency rate'' of 93.0%. The Metropolitan Police Department excludes police officers who take childcare leave from counting personnel for one year, considering that they will have to work reduced hours even after returning. As of April 1st of this year, there were approximately 1,500 such police officers, and even if you include those returning from childcare leave, there would still be approximately 1,500 fewer than the capacity. Approximately 450 people are seconded or dispatched to the national, metropolitan, and municipal governments, and are not included in the headcount. ■WLB penetration is behind it...