Experts in VIP Protection Sound Alarm Over Scene Examination of Former Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Kishida

On July 8, 2010, a tragic incident occurred in which former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was killed by a bullet. Whatever the outrage, murder is a crime and must not be tolerated. To prevent a recurrence, we asked Hidetomo Koyamauchi, 51, of the Association of International Bodyguards (AICPO), a professional bodyguard for dignitaries, to review the incident again on the occasion of the third anniversary of his death. In the first part of the article, “Clients range from foreign royalty to world-class athletes……An astute bodyguard reveals his “biggest enemy to date”” Mr. Koyamauchi, introduced in Part 2, is the deputy director of the International Association of Bodyguards, which protects Middle Eastern royalty, state guests, famous foreign artists, and athletes, and is also the representative of the association’s Japanese branch.

First, the Kintetsu Yamato Nishinokyo Station where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a speech is crowded with pedestrian traffic, making it difficult to park campaign vehicles. Campaign speeches in busy areas often involve speaking from atop campaign vehicles to avoid approaching attackers on foot. Placing the campaign vehicle within the area could have protected Abe’s back, but on that day, the vehicle was unsuitable for speech from the top and could not be parked near the speaker due to lack of parking space.

The location is surrounded by guardrails on all sides, providing visibility to campaign supporters from all directions, facilitated by adjacent large commercial facilities and the presence of a station, making it easier for voters to gather. While this setup is ideal for appealing to law-abiding citizens, it requires security from all directions if there are malicious attackers. For attackers, it was the optimal location.

The Nara Prefectural Police hastily devised a security and protection plan the evening before Abe’s scheduled speech. Police and campaign staff visited the site to determine Abe’s positioning. Regarding the security arrangements at this location, Mr. Osanai was consulted.

Was there a problem with the security plan?

“The zebra zone surrounded by guardrails in front of Kintetsu Yamato Nishinokyo Station where this incident occurred was the worst place for an attack from any direction. At the core of any security plan, the very first consideration should be setting the boundary. Boundary here refers to deciding the extent of our security responsibility zone. For instance, when guarding a high-ranking bureaucrat in Kasumigaseki, it’s impossible to secure the entire area, so we define how far our security zone extends around the protected person. This is what we mean by setting the boundary.

And within that boundary, it’s crucial to establish a system that immediately notices suspicious individuals approaching. We also determine strategies for promptly dealing with suspicious or unauthorized persons entering that zone, especially at entry and exit points and along pathways where people move.

At entry points to this zone, we conduct access controls to regulate entry and ensure security control. In VIP protection duties, it’s vital to clearly define this security responsibility zone beforehand. This is what setting the boundary entails. Observing the movements of the police officers guarding Shinzo Abe, it seems they may have failed in both setting the boundary and access control. Perhaps they didn’t realistically anticipate the potential dangers that could occur at the scene.”

In the shooting incident involving former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, only one SP officer trained in VIP protection was present. Furthermore, due to the last-minute scheduling the previous evening, the hastily assembled Nara Prefectural Police security team lacked thorough education on VIP protection. According to a report compiled by the Metropolitan Police Department, the security detail in the zebra zone during the campaign consisted of only three officers from Nara Prefectural Police and one SP officer from the Metropolitan Police Department, totaling four personnel. The security personnel from Nara Prefecture were focused on the audience in front of them, while one officer watching the rear was distracted by bicycles and other matters, completely unaware of the approaching suspect.