Yomiuri: Burglaries down, but lock-picking cases up 40%
The number of burglaries is down slightly from last year, but break-ins in which special tools were used to unlock doors increased by 40.5 percent in the January-August period compared with the same period last year in Tokyo, according to a report by the Metropolitan Police Department. Sharp rises in the number of cases in which locks were picked or doors opened using the so-called thumbturn opening method, have been reported in areas where streets are narrow and patrolling is difficult, especially in such wards as Suginami, Nakano and Koto that surround urban centers.
In addition to Chinese gangs, other foreign groups that imitate the Chinese groups' methods are suspected of involvement in the rising number of such thefts. The MPD warned that several burglary gangs are behind the increase in the number.
According to the police, the number of burglaries reported in Tokyo has been decreasing since it peaked in 2000 at 39,502. The number stood at 19,278 last year. Decreases in the number are attributed to the Picking Prevention Law coming into force in 2003, which made possessing certain lock-opening tools illegal, and the intensification of the hunt for illegal aliens. Although the number of burglaries reported from January through August this year stood at 11,897, down 6.7 percent from the same period a year earlier, the number of lock pickings jumped to 425 from 191.
