Former Chiba Prefectural Police Chief of Detectives Discusses the Skills and Realities of “Spotting Investigators

It wasn’t a story from the world of fiction, such as dramas…

Suspect Susumu Terauchi, 31, a restaurant employee, was arrested on January 18 for murdering his former girlfriend on a street in front of JR Hakata Station. It is reported that it was a “spotting investigation” that spotted the suspect, who was disguised with date glasses.

A “spotting search” is an investigative method that memorizes a suspect’s mug shot and external features and finds him or her in crowded places such as downtown areas and train stations. The news of this case was followed by a number of comments on social networking services, such as, “Randomly searching is too amazing,” and “I can’t remember people’s faces at all, so it’s absolutely impossible for me! I can’t remember people’s faces at all!

Many people were also reminded of the WOWOW drama “Stolen Faces: The Miatari Investigation Team” (2019) starring Hiroshi Tamaki, which is based on a novel by Keisuke Haneda, giving the impression that it is a story from the world of fiction.

However, the history of the “hit-and-run” investigation is surprisingly long, as it is said that Osaka Prefecture was the first prefecture in Japan to start such an investigation in 1978. The website of the Osaka Prefectural Police Department has an article titled “Message from the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department’s Register Investigation Team” (original in Japanese), in which the “female register investigation team leader,” who was appointed in 2009 for the first time in Japan, writes about memorable cases, how she spends her days off, and her thoughts on those who want to become police officers.

Unobtrusive, unassuming…the real image of a “random investigator

How exactly are these “random investigators” selected? Is it a special skill set? We asked Mr. Shigenori Tano, who worked for the Chiba Prefectural Police Department for 35 years and also served as chief of the Special Crimes Investigation Unit, Criminal Investigation Division 1 and chief of the First Section of the Criminal Investigation Department under jurisdiction.

He told us, “There is a section called the Criminal Affairs Division within the Criminal Investigation Department of the prefectural police headquarters, which houses the Spotting Investigation Unit. The Chiba Prefectural Police Department had a unit about 15 years ago, and it initially consisted of about four people. It was not a special skill-based hiring process, but rather, personnel who were deemed to have the right skills were selected for the job. (Mr. Tano, hereafter, same as above)

What kind of people are selected as register investigators?

When I think back to the people who worked as spotters during my time at the Chiba Prefectural Police Department, one of the main characteristics is that they do not look like investigators at a glance.

For the convenience of the investigation, we prefer people who blend in with the city as much as possible. So they were all unobtrusive and unassuming. For example, someone who is not overly stout or extremely fat, or someone who does not have any outstanding external characteristics would be more suitable.

However, since the job involves memorizing the face photos of hundreds of wanted criminals and searching for them in a crowded place, it is naturally important to have a good memory.

I also think it is important to have a certain amount of experience in investigations, to have the patience to look around the city for a long time without getting bored, and to be well behaved.

Looking through a magnifying glass at a “wanted person’s mug shot”…

And while there may be differences from police station to police station and from era to era, Mr. Tano says that there was no specific training at the Chiba Prefectural Police during his time in the field. However, he says there is a trick to remembering mugshots.

He looks at hundreds of mugshots of wanted persons and memorizes their features in his mind.

Particular emphasis is placed on the eye area. Especially in this day and age, even if everyone wears a mask or a hat due to the COVID-19 crisis, the eyes are still visible, and the features of the eyes do not change even if they are slightly tweaked.

In fact, in some cases, such as the recent murder case in front of Hakata Station, I am told to go to the vicinity of the case, and in other cases, I always keep in mind the facial features of the most wanted criminals in the country and catch a suspect in an unsolved case.

The latest technology such as AI + classic, analog “spotting

The first “jackpot investigators” were created in Osaka, and since then they have spread nationwide. However, “only those prefectural police departments with sufficient manpower can deploy such officers,” he said. “Some officers who normally work on general investigations such as homicide or robbery are assigned to conduct a random search when a case arises, while others have a full-time team for random searches,” he said.

Incidentally, he said that in some respects, the “classic method” of the blunder investigator, which already has a long history, is now becoming easier to do.

Now, with security cameras and facial recognition by AI, it is becoming much easier to track people,” he said. That said, AI can find them, but not catch them, so it doesn’t eliminate the need for spotting investigators.

For example, in the past, if an incident occurred on a certain date and time, the suspect would first be interviewed, from which the suspect would surfaced, and then If we got information that the suspect was in the Chiba area, we had to search the entire Chiba Prefecture.

Nowadays, however, a suspect can be quickly identified by security cameras, and if, for example, a suspect is identified by facial recognition in the Oshiba area of Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture, it is easy to conduct a spot check on the suspect by focusing on that area.

Credit card usage records and cell phone operation histories can also be tracked at , making it possible to narrow down the search to a much more specific area. The preconditions are now in place to make it easier to conduct a random search . Perhaps the Hakata case was also narrowed down so much at the time of the incident that the scope of the random search was narrowed down so much that they may have known where the victim was sleeping.

By combining new technologies such as security cameras and AI facial recognition with the classic, analog, human-powered “spot checks” , investigations have become easier and cases are expected to be solved sooner. In closing, Mr. Tano expressed his hopes for the future.

If we can catch wanted criminals quickly, it means that secondary crimes can be prevented. If secondary crimes are not committed, the police will be much more comfortable, and the safety of citizens will be greatly improved. I believe that the demand for spot checks using new technology will increase in the future.

Shigenori T ano is the president of the Shigenori Tano Law Office. He is a former senior investigative officer of the Chiba Prefectural Police. A longtime member of the Investigation Division 1 of the Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters, he is a professional in criminal cases, having been involved in the investigation of heinous crimes and medical malpractice cases that shook the nation. After his final retirement as Chief of the First Criminal Investigation Division of the Chiba Nishi Police Station, he currently serves as the representative of a legal firm and is also active as a crime critic and commentator.