NPA asks taxi firms to bolster security

The National Police Agency is asking taxi organizations to take safety measures in light of a recent string of armed robberies, including fatal attacks, in western Japan.

The NPA asked the groups to follow its guidelines for taxi anticrime standards, including installing plastic barriers to protect the drivers, and told prefectural police to make similar requests locally.

Taxi companies in the Kansai region, where two cabbies were slain in December and three more were hurt in robberies this week, are beginning to take precautionary steps, including installing partitions and security cameras inside cabs.

A taxi operator in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, said it began installing partitions in all of its 63 taxis Wednesday morning.

"It's frightening because the incidents are continuing. But this will give us a little bit of assurance. It's good that (passengers) will be unable to reach (the driver's) neck from behind," said Kazuo Nakagawa, a 59-year-old driver who works there.

An Osaka taxi cooperative association comprising about 100 member operators began using security cameras in its taxis in December on a trial basis, but the recent robberies may force it to equip all 7,600 or so member taxis with cameras.

Another taxi operator in Osaka that has equipped its 180 taxis with cameras said they have possibly had a preventive effect, citing one suspicious passenger who kept changing his destination, then noticed the camera and decided to get out.