National Police Agency Expert Committee to discuss requiring GPS and medical treatment for stalkers

In light of the growing severity of stalking, the National Police Agency announced on the 15th that it will set up an expert panel to discuss a system that would require stalkers to be equipped with global positioning system (GPS) devices to alert them when they approach the victim. We will sort out the issues and proceed with full-scale consideration for implementation. The government will also consider a system that requires perpetrators to undergo treatment and counseling.

The expert panel held its first meeting on the 19th. After repeated discussions, a report will be compiled in the future. Based on the report, the National Police Agency plans to proceed with the creation of a system with a view to amending the stalking control law.

In July, the government decided on emergency measures to prevent the spread of fraud and stalking damage at the Cabinet Meeting Against Crime. This includes early consideration of the introduction of GPS devices for stalking perpetrators, as well as the introduction of mandatory medical treatment and counseling.

The establishment of this review committee is a response to this. The committee's members included scholars specializing in constitutional law and criminal policy, experts in psychiatry and counseling, and lawyers with expertise in victim support, and included Ken Shibata, the bereaved family of a stalker-murder case in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, that occurred in 2012.

What is the target of GPS installation?

Wearing a GPS device affects an individual's freedom of movement, and although the purpose is to prevent stalking, it can also restrict the rights of perpetrators, so it requires consideration from multiple angles. There are many points of contention, including how to determine which perpetrators should be worn, how to wear them, and how long they should be worn, whether location information should be made available not only to victims but also to the police, and whether a court review is necessary.

The National Police Agency has suggested that one of the ideas that would be subject to wearing such devices would be to narrow down the range of perpetrators who have received a prohibition order based on the Stalking Control Act to perpetrators who are at a certain level of risk.

The immediate impetus for considering installing GPS devices was the stabbing death of a female part-time clerk at the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo, a commercial facility in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, in March of this year.

The suspect's former boyfriend was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of violating the Stalking Control Act, and was also ordered to forbid him from approaching her. The man was summarily charged and released. The Metropolitan Police Department evacuated the woman in preparation for her release and also recommended that the man seek treatment and counseling, but the man was refused.

■“Prohibition orders” were at an all-time high last year…