The Justice Ministry will assign multiple volunteer probation officers to watch over offenders convicted for a wider scope of cases as part of measures to improve safety, sources said Friday.
On Thursday, the ministry notified probation office heads nationwide of these measures, which were compiled in response to the alleged murder of a volunteer probation officer by a person on probation in the city of Otsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture, in May.
Previously in Japan, one volunteer probation officer was assigned to watch over one individual, in most cases, and multiple officers were assigned only in rare cases, such as those involving less experienced officers.
The ministry will now assign multiple volunteer probation officers in a wider range of cases by having parole officers, who are staff members of the ministry, hear all volunteer officers’ intentions in advance and coordinate multiple assignments according to their wishes.
Also as part of the safety measures, the ministry seeks to secure places for interviews with people on probation other than volunteer officers’ homes and strengthen the support system for such officers.
After the alleged murder, the ministry conducted an interview survey on all volunteer officers on probation duty totaling 16,184. Of them, 1,480 officers, or 9.1%, said they were feeling insecure. It plans to also interview volunteer probation officers currently not assigned to any case by the end of August, and implement further safety measures as early as in the fall.
Volunteer probation officers support the rehabilitation of people who have committed crimes or delinquent acts. Although they have the status of part-time government officials commissioned by the justice minister, they are not paid salaries. The aging of volunteer probation officers and the shortage of such officers have also become problems.