Authorities in Fukushima Prefecture are installing security cameras to deter and catch unscrupulous thieves targeting homes left vacant by residents who fled after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Authorities in Fukushima Prefecture are installing security cameras to deter and catch unscrupulous thieves targeting homes left vacant by residents who fled after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Thefts and break-ins in evacuated localities around the nuclear plant have become so rampant that at least town has been forced to beef up security using money intended to rebuild the community.
“(The crimes) are like pouring salt into the wounds of the disaster victims,” said Tsutomu Hirayama, a 47-year-old resident from Tomioka in the prefecture.
Hirayama, who volunteers his time to help other evacuees clean up their houses, said about 70 percent of the homes he has visited have fallen victim to thieves.
The town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture in February installed a camera on a support pillar of a utility pole to record the license plate numbers of vehicles entering and leaving the area. The town installed cameras at seven other locations.
The measure was taken to deter not only thieves but also to prevent motorists from breaking through a barricade to satisfy their curiosity about what was happening in the town, according to a Namie official.
Police use such cameras at arterial roads across the nation, but the installation by a local government is rare.
The towns of Okuma and Futaba, co-hosts of the Fukushima nuclear plant, the town of Tomioka and the village of Katsurao are taking similar measures. They all have districts located within 20 kilometers of the nuclear plant.
All residents remain evacuated from these localities due to high radiation levels caused by the nuclear disaster that unfolded in March 2011 following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The five localities reported a combined 212 thefts in 2013. The figure included 192 break-ins, more than fourfold the number in 2010.
As of June, police had reported 107 theft cases in these localities this year.
Authorities say the actual number of crimes is likely much larger because some evacuees cannot confirm the situation at their homes.
Theft cases in the affected areas are expected to rise further after the central government lifts the restriction on travel on National Route No. 6, which runs along the coastal area of Fukushima Prefecture.
The anticipated rise in traffic on the route prompted local governments to introduce the cameras.
Okuma will put up surveillance cameras at 40 locations, including the town’s center and key roads, and automatic number plate recognition cameras at 18 sites by year-end.
A security company will manage the cameras and dispatch security guards if suspicious individuals are detected. Police will be notified if a vehicle enters the town without an authorized pass.
The Okuma town government earmarked about 725 million yen ($7.14 million) for the current fiscal year for the security measure. The money will come from national coffers intended to revitalize local economies hard hit by the 2011 triple disaster.
“The town cannot assign people to monitor traffic in the town because of the high radiation levels there,” an Okuma official said. “We hope to deter thefts with the installation of the cameras. Potential perpetrators may be discouraged if cameras are in use.”
Tomioka will start operating surveillance cameras and automatic number plate recognition cameras at 44 locations as early as in August.
Katsurao plans to install surveillance cameras at 11 sites by the end of this year. Futaba is also preparing to introduce the devices by that time.
After the magnitude-9.0 quake and tsunami devastated coastal areas of the Tohoku region, sympathy, donations and volunteers poured in from around Japan and the globe.
But communities that remain deserted because of the nuclear accident are being increasingly targeted by thieves.
A 34-year-old construction worker from Tamura, also in Fukushima Prefecture, admitted during his trial on July 15 that he stole clothes and other items worth about 32,000 yen during break-ins at two apartments in Tomioka in April.
The haul was apparently just the tip of the iceberg.
“Nobody lived there, so it was easy to steal,” police quoted the suspect as saying during the investigation. “I committed thefts more than 100 times.”
Police confiscated about 3,000 articles, including jewelry, wrist watches and personal computers, at his home.
Hirayama from Tomioka said he welcomes the measures to prevent such appalling crimes.
“The introduction of cameras is a good step, but videos and data should be managed together by the local governments, not separately, to improve efficiency,” he said.
(This article was written by Takuro Negishi and Naoyuki Takahashi.)