Masafumi Kondo, superintendent of Japan's National Police Agency, meets with South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens (right) and Chief of Police Brad Rinehart (left). Kondo was given a tour of the police station by Assistant Chief of Police Brad Houck (back).
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The superintendent of Japan's National Police Agency met with Kanawha County law enforcement officials Wednesday to learn about the state's predominant crimes and to establish a working relationship.
Masafumi Kondo, who specializes in counterterrorism for the consulate general of Japan in New York City, said West Virginia is one of five states within his jurisdiction.
Kondo is responsible for checking in on the safety concerns of Japanese travelers within that jurisdiction. He said West Virginia has about 10,000 Japanese citizens working and attending college.
"I like to visit the police stations, to drop in and say hello," Kondo said. "If something were to happen with a Japanese citizen, it would be very easy to understand each other."
Kondo began Wednesday morning by touring the State Police Academy in Institute.
He said he had lunch with cadets and enjoyed watching a training exercise.
He later met with South Charleston Police Chief Brad Rinehart and Assistant Chief Robert Houck. The policemen discussed crime rates for methamphetamine possession and prescription pill abuse. Kondo said Japan has a meth problem, and he was interested in learning more in the future about how South Charleston Police dealt with it.
Kondo then drove to Charleston, where he met with Police Chief Brent Webster and Maj. Jason Beckett, deputy chief of police.
Webster asked why Japan has significantly low gun crime rates. Kondo said it was because Japanese citizens are not allowed to carry concealed weapons. Special permits are issued only to hunters and Olympic athletes, he said. Only Japanese police and homeland security officers are permitted to carry weapons, he said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The superintendent of Japan's National Police Agency met with Kanawha County law enforcement officials Wednesday to learn about the state's predominant crimes and to establish a working relationship.
Masafumi Kondo, who specializes in counterterrorism for the consulate general of Japan in New York City, said West Virginia is one of five states within his jurisdiction.
Kondo is responsible for checking in on the safety concerns of Japanese travelers within that jurisdiction. He said West Virginia has about 10,000 Japanese citizens working and attending college.
"I like to visit the police stations, to drop in and say hello," Kondo said. "If something were to happen with a Japanese citizen, it would be very easy to understand each other."
Kondo began Wednesday morning by touring the State Police Academy in Institute.
He said he had lunch with cadets and enjoyed watching a training exercise.
He later met with South Charleston Police Chief Brad Rinehart and Assistant Chief Robert Houck. The policemen discussed crime rates for methamphetamine possession and prescription pill abuse. Kondo said Japan has a meth problem, and he was interested in learning more in the future about how South Charleston Police dealt with it.
Kondo then drove to Charleston, where he met with Police Chief Brent Webster and Maj. Jason Beckett, deputy chief of police.
Webster asked why Japan has significantly low gun crime rates. Kondo said it was because Japanese citizens are not allowed to carry concealed weapons. Special permits are issued only to hunters and Olympic athletes, he said. Only Japanese police and homeland security officers are permitted to carry weapons, he said.
"They just don't have the number of shooting deaths like we do," Webster said.
Webster said he appreciated meeting with Kondo and assured him that West Virginia has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation.
"That's good to know," Kondo said.
Kondo said he has been working as superintendent for two and half years and would return to Japan in April.
Japan has only one police agency, he said. There are more than 250,000 police officers in the Japanese police and 47 headquarters, one located in each prefecture.
Thursday, Kondo will be meeting with police agencies around Pittsburgh, he said.
Reach Travis Crum at travis.c...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
