Japanese Police To Overhaul Protection For Vips In Wake Of Abe Shooting
Japan's National Police Agency has announced plans for drastic changes in the security arrangements for dignitaries in the wake of the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Abe was shot from behind while giving an election campaign speech on July 8 in the western city of Nara.
The agency on Thursday released the results of its inquiry into the security provided for Abe. It said it will revise the rules for VIP protection for the first time in nearly 30 years to give the agency a bigger role in the process.
In its report, the agency says flaws in the security plan and insufficient communication between officers on site were factors in the failure to prevent the fatal shooting.
The report says the biggest problem that led to the grave result is that insufficient attention was paid to the potential dangers from behind Abe, which allowed the shooter's approach.
The positioning of officers was changed shortly before Abe began his speech, and the focus of security shifted to the front side.
The report says this change was not shared among the personnel on site and no instructions were given to assign additional officers to guard Abe's back.
The report says the security plan drawn up by the Nara prefectural police followed precedents in a perfunctory manner and overlooked the risks from the rear.
It says the security plan failed to assign a sufficient number of officers and did not clarify the roles of the officer in charge.
The National Police Agency has always entrusted local police to draw up security plans.
Apart from certain dignitaries, such as incumbent prime ministers and state guests, the agency does not require local police to notify the agency of their security plans.
The agency says it will provide guidelines for local police to follow in drawing up security arrangements. It will also require local police to give prior notice of their plans to the agency, so that it can point out any changes that it deems necessary.
The agency also says it will use drones to assess the situation from above and install bulletproof glass to protect dignitaries.