[/floatl]Asahi: Cities bar gangsters from public housing
Local governments increasingly are saying no to members of organized crime syndicates when it comes to public housing...Twenty prefectural and seven major city governments have revised related ordinances so they can reject potential gangster tenants--a sharp rise from two prefectural and one city government which had done so by late April. The increase was apparently triggered by an incident involving a gangster living in a Tokyo metropolitan government-run apartment in the city of Machida in April. He confined himself to his room and fired several shots at police officers outside the building, after killing another gangster elsewhere. Some local governments remain cautious about revising ordinances on grounds such action could violate people's rights of residence. There is also the question of proving that someone has gang ties...more...
